mwmsm mmmmsmsaesamm \ V. N.. ,"i ..\.. N - . " UTH ... ' i \ I ■ ,* UC-NRLF I IIIIIllll 111 $B Sfl4 25 1 . I PRIVATE LIBRARY I — — OF JAMES H. BURKE. GIFT OF Mr. James S. Porter IV l.vsii. LETnrOBTONl ILLUSTRATED LIBRARY OF TRAVEL TRAVELS IN SOUTH AFRICA COMPILED AND ARRANGED BY BAYARD TAYLOR NEW YORK CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 743 & 745 Broadway 1881 COPYRIGHT BY CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 1881 ■DT7-3/ CONTENTS -♦» CHAPTER I. r\am South Africa.— Its Discovery and Settlement . . 1 CHAPTER II. The Native Tribes of South Africa .... 13 CHAPTER III. Moffat's Missionary Journeys ...... 25 CHAPTER IV. Livingstone's Discovery of Lake No ami . . .41 CHAPTER V. Livingstone's First Journey to the Zambesi . . 54 CHAPTER VI. Anderson's Journey to the Ovampo Land and Lake Ngami 68 CHAPTER VII. Anderson's Journey to the Okavango River . . 82 , CHAPTER VIII. LrVTNGSTONE'8 JOURNEY ACROSS THE CONTINENT. — I.-TO THE MAKOLOLO COUNTRY 90 M£97£15 CONTENTS. I CHAPTER IX. MOB Livingstone's Journey Across the Continent. — II.- Voyage up the Zambesi River . . .122 CHAPTER X. Livingstone's Journey Across tue Continent. — Ill.-Ur the Leei a River 1 13 CHAPTER XI. Livingstone's Journey Across the Continent.— IV. -From Shinte to Loanda 177 CHAPTER XII. Livingstone's Journey Across the Continent. — V. -Return to the Makololo Country . . 204 CHAPTER XIII. Livingstone's Journey Across the Continent.— VI.-Down the Zambesi to the Eastern Coast . 234 CHAPTER XIV. Magyar's Journey to Bihe 258 CHAPTER XV. Magyar's Journeys in the Interior ... 269 CHAPTER XVI. Livingstone's Expedition to Lake Nyassa . . .284 CHAPTER XVII. Livingstone's Last Journey 801 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. ♦ PAGB David Livingstone ... ... Fionthpiece. Cape Town 6 Namaqua Musician .16 Moshech, Chief of Bassutos 20 Thaba Bossin 24 Hippopotamus Trap ........ 40 Livingstone attacked by a Lion 44 Anderson starting out 68 South African Watering-place 77 Anderson's Journey across the Burning Prairie . 88 "Behold! a White Man" ... ... 95 A Hippopotamus Family ... ... 120 Moonlight Dance of the Natives 140 Halt under the Baobab . . . . . . 176 Pass of Pungo Adongo 200 Head-dresses of Londa 215 Hippopotamus Upsetting a Boat 228 Village of Skulls 231 Falls of the Zambesb 239 St. Paul de Loanda 254 Magyar's Ascent of the Coast Range . . . .261 An Expedition from Bihe 281 Zanzibar 302 TRAVELS 1jS t SOUTH AFRIOA. CHAPTEPv I. SOUTH AFRICA. — ITS DISCOVERY AND SETTLEMENT. rp HE fact that the northern part of Africa was well -L known to the civilized nations of antiquity gave rise to very early attempts to explore the dimensions of that continent. The first authentic record of such an attempt is given by Herodotus, who relates that Pharaoh Necho (about GOO years before the Christian era) sent an expedition down the Red Sea, with orders to sail around what was then considered to be an island, reaching to the latitude of the Equator. The vessels sailed until the autumn, landed, sowed grain, waited until they had reaped the harvest, and then sailed further. In the third year of their voyage they reached the Pillars of Hercules (Gibraltar), and returned to Egypt with the intelligence, which Herodotus utterly discredits, that they had seen the sun in the north. This circumstance, alone, seems to be sufficient proof that the Egyptians really circumnavigated Africa. The second attempt, of which we have a more par- ticular description, was made by the Carthaginians, about the year 500 B. C, when the famous Admiral 1 1 anno tet out 0:1 his voyage of colonization, some 1 2 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. account of which is preserved to us in the fragments of his Periplus. He sailed with sixty vessels, carrying three thousand colonists of both sexes, with a rich sto "e of provisions and implements of labor. Coasting for two days southward from the Straits of Gibraltar, he founded the first colony, and built, upon a woodc J headland near it, a stately temple to Neptune. Still further to the south, — but at what point we cannot now ascertain, — he found a large lake, frequented by elephants and other wild beasts, and, beyond this, founded four other colonies. Near this place the great river "Lixus," coming down from the Atlas moun- tains, emptied into the ocean. After a further voyage of three days along a des- ert coast, lie readied a bay with an island, and there established the last colony, which was named Cerne. lie reckoned that its distance from the Pillars cf Hercules was about the same as from that point to Carthage. From Cerne, as a starting-point, voyagei of exploration were made still further to the south. They found great rivers, tenanted by the crocodile and the hippopotamus; savage negro tribes, partly clothed with the skins of beasts; great forests, from which flame arose at night, and whore they heard the sound of cymbals and drums; and finally, on an island near the shore, strange, hairy creatures, resembling men, to which they gave the name of gorillaa. These monsters fled as they approached, clambered upon the rocks and hurled stones upon the explorers. The latter captured throe females, which were bo ferocious that they were obliged to kill them ; but their aklOl were sent to Carthage. ITS DISCO VER Y AND SE TTLEMENT. % Modern geographers are divided in opinion as to the furthest point reached by Hanno, some limiting his explorations to the southern boundary of Morocco, while others extend them to the Bight of Benin. The evidence is tolerably conclusive that he must have penetrated as far, at least, as the Gambia River. The next attempt was made about the year 130 B. C. by a Greek navigator, named Eudoxus. On his trading voyages to India he had seen the eastern coast of Africa, where it trends to the south-west, beyond Cape Gardafui ; and he naturally imagined (being also familiar, probably, with the account of the Egyp- tian expedition given by Herodotus) that it might be but a short journey around the continent to Gibraltar. His plan was heartily encouraged by the merchants of Marseilles and Cadiz, then important trading-ports; two large vessels were furnished, and a crowd of vol- unteers offered themselves for the expedition. But the latter resisted the efforts of Eudoxus to sail at a safe distance from the land ; they compelled him to keep near the coast, and the larger of the two vessels was soon stranded, as he had predicted. The crew and cargo were rescued, and from the fragments of the vessel he constructed a smaller one, with which he continued the voyage until he reached a tribe of people who apparently spoke the same language as those he had seen on the eastern coast. Here, however, he was obliged to return. He succeeded in fitting out a second expedition, but there is no record whatever of its results, and Eudoxus is only mentioned by Strabo as a fantastic adventurer — a Munchausen of the ancien times. i TKA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. The knowledge of the eastern coast of Africa ex- tended, as the commerce with India increased. The trade in ivory led the vessels which navigated the Red Se.i ever further to the south, until, from the rela- tions of Ptolemy, it seems probable that they reached the mouth of the Zambesi River, and may possibly have attained the southern extremity of the continent, without' being aware of the discovery. The trade in ivory, gold, and slaves, along the east- ern coast, was kept up by the Arabs during the Mid- dle Ages. There is a great deal of evidence to show that they had a regular intercourse with the regions of Zanzibar and Mozambique, which was afterward extended to Caffraria. Indeed, the intellectual supe- riority of the Kafters over the other native tribes of South Africa, is attributed by some ethnologists to a mixture of Arabic blood. Their language still con- tains words of Arabic origin. But the complete exploration of the African coast was reserved for Portugal. The rapid growth of Por- tuguese commerce, about the beginning of the fifteenth century, together with the wars with Morocco, which occasioned the sending out of naval expeditions, led to the rediscovery of the Canary Islands in 1420, and made the navigators familiar with the mainland, as fir as Cape Bojador. This point was looked upon as one of the ends of the world; and when, in 1 I the intrepid Gilianez, sailed beyond it, his achie ment exdted almost as much wonder and enthusiasm as the great discovery of Columbus, sixty years after- wards. In ten years more the Portuguese had reached ITS DISCO VER Y AND SE TTLEMENT. 5 Cape Blanco, and made a settlement on an island near it. Furnished by the Pope with authority to possess themselves of all the lands beyond Cape Bojador, they very soon found the fertile regions of Senegal, and were stimulated by the double prospect of enriching themselves with gold-dust and ivory, and of extending their rule over new tribes, who must first, of course, be forcibly converted to Christianity. The death of Prince Henry the Navigator, whose interest in these undertakings had contributed so greatly to their suc- cess, checked the advance of exploration, — but only for a short time. Fernando Gomez was commissioned by the king to extend the line of explored coast one hun- dred miles a year, for five years, and thereby reached the Gold Coast in 1471. The island of Fernando Po was reached soon afterwards, and in 148-i Diego Cam sailed into the mouth of the great Congo liiver, estab- lished friendly relations with the kingdom of that name, and introduced Christianity. During nearly two centuries, Congo and Angola appeared to be thor- oughly Christianized, but they have since relapsed into their former condition of pagan barbarism. The line of Portuguese exploration was very grad- ually pushed southward, until Bartholomew Diaz first saw the great mountain-cape with which Africa fronts the Southern Ocean. Terrified by the stormy sky, the furious winds, and the great waves formed by the meeting of two strong ocean-currents, he turned back, naming the headland the Cape of Storms, and hastened with his shattered vessels to Portugal. The king, however, changed the name to the Cape of Good Hope, rightly believing that the ocean-road to Indie C TRA VEL S IN SOU 7 II A FKICA . was at last found. In 1498 his belief was justified by Vasco de Gama, who doubled the dreaded Cape, fol- lowed the eastern eoast to Mozambique and Melinda, and reached India. The commercial spirit of the Portuguese, however, was only attracted by the regions on the eastern and western coasts of Africa, which supplied their trade in gold, ivory, and slaves. The extreme southern part of the continent, with its wild shores, bare plains, and savage Hottentot inhabitants, did not tempt them to colonize it. Their vessels on the voyage to and from India, occasionally touched at the Cape for fresh water and cattle, but they had little intercourse with the na- tives, evcept of a hostile character. The Dutch, who had become, in the course of an- other century, the commercial rivals of the Portuguese in the Indies, were the first to perceive the importance of establishing a permanent station at the southern ex- tremity of Africa, where their ships could find supplies on the long voyage to the East. In 1630, Van Iiie- beck built a fort on Table Bay, which was the first germ of the present Capetown. His only object was to establish a stopping-place for Dutch vessels, and the garrison took pains to conciliate the native tribes, since they found the intercourse exceedingly profitable. Little by little, however, the Dutch embraced in their claim the land surrounding the fort, began raising their own herds of cattle, cultivating the soil, and even for- cibly making slaves of the natives. By the beginning of the last century they had obtained possession of sev- eral thousand miles of territory. The boundaries of this colony were subjected to constant attacks, but ITS DISCO VER Y A AW SE T 'ELEMENT. % the weaker races were wasted in the warfare, and slowly receded, as on our own western frontier. After a time, farmers and mechanics began to emi- grate from Holland to the settlement, and in 1685, many of the Huguenots who were driven from France, found their way thither. The discovery was made that a district near Capetown was remarkably favorable to the growth of the vine, and those vineyards were planted which have since then produced the famous Constantia wine. The growth of the colony, neverthe- less, was restricted to the narrow belt of fertile country south of the mountain ranges, which cross South Af- rica in a line nearly parallel to its southern coast. The broad, barren table-land of the Karroo seemed to be a bar to settlement in that direction, and the great val- ley of the Orange River, beyond, had not then been discovered. The Orange Eiver was first discovered by Capt. Gordon, in 1777. The English, who had long cast covetous eyes upon the Cape-land, captured Capetown and the adjacent territory in 1795. Although they relinquished this acquisition in the Treaty of Amiens, they retook it in 1806, and held possession, until by the peace of 1815, they secured it permanently. Un- der their rule, the work of exploration went forward more rapidly, partly by means of adventurers who sought fields of future gain, and partly by the mission- aries sent from Scotland. The course and extent of the Orange River was soon ascertained, and the land cf the Bechuanas beyond, with its capital of Lattakoo was reached in 1813 by the missionary John Campbell The area of colonized territory was also slowlv ex 8 TA'A VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. tended to the eastward and northward, and other towns were founded along or near the coast. The Dutch population, who, after a century of settlement, had fallen into their own traditional habitr of life, were greatly dissatisfied with the new rule. After the possession of the territory had been assured to England, officials were sent out who were ignorant of the condition and needs of the country, and whuse chief aim was to enrich themselves as speedily as possi- ble. The old order of things was roughly overturned : the natives were treated according to a different svs- tern, and finally, the abolition of Hottentot slavery, in in 1829, seemed to the Boers (farmers) a fatal blow to their prosperity. Moreover, those living on the fron- tier were forbidden to carry on their old warfare against the assaults of the savage tribes, yet no equiva- lent military protection was furnished to them. All these causes of dissatisfaction led to a move- ment which, in the end, greatly hastened the explora- tion of Southern Africa. The Dutch farmers deter- mined to withdraw themselves from English rule. They sold their cultivated farms to English settlers and speculators, often at a small fraction of their real value, equipped themselves for emigration, and in L836 set out, several thousand in number, to seek a new home beyond the Orange River. They knew of the fertile regions stretching from the upper valley of that river towards Delagoa Bay on the eastern coast, — regions which had been almost entirely depopulated in the wars of the native tribes, — and also of nearer dis- tricts, on the eastern slopes of the Winterberg. A. this great body of emigrants penetrated towards the ITS DISCO VER Y AND SE TTLEMENT. 9 north, they found few difficulties in their way ; but those who turned eastward came into conflict with the fierce KafFer tribes. In the following year, however, Praetorius, one of the Dutch leaders, defeated the Katfer chief Dingaan, took possession of his land and organized the Free State of Natal. The Boers who had settled on the western slopes of the mountain chain formed a separate government, which they called the Republic of the Orange River. The success of the Boers in establishing two inde- pendent States attracted the attention of the Eng- lish Government, which determined to bring them again under its rule. From the circumstance that an English settlement had been made in Natal (although it was afterwards given up), the Government laid claim to the possession of that territory, appointed officials of all kinds, and sent them with ships of war to enforce their authority. The Dutch both protested and actively resisted, but they were finally overcome, some accept- ing the English rule, while others left their homes a sec- ond time and withdrew into the wilderness. In Novem- ber, 1843,, Natal was declared to be a British colony. Soon afterwards, the English applied the same plan of annexation to the Orange River Republic, but the civil officers they sent to replace the republican gov- ernment which the Dutch had established were im- mediately driven away. Then an armed force fol- lowed : the Dutch, under Praetorius, resisted, until, in August, 1848, at the battle of Boom-Plats, the latter were defeated with much slaughter. The same results followed, as in the case of Natal ; some submitted to the conquering power, while others, with Praetorius at 10 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. their head, wandered away to the north, crossed the Vaal River, the main branch of the Orange, took pos ion of the mountainous region, dividing its waters from those of the Limpopo, and founded that indepeo dent State which is now known as the Transvaal Republic. In 1854 the English Government wisely decided to give up the Orange River sovereignty, as it was termed, and restore its independence to the little re- public. Thus the heroic Boers, after their long wan- derings and their desperate struggle for liberty to r late their own affairs, were at last successful ; but their subsequent history has been leas favorable to their char- acter. After the death of President Pnvtorius, the Transvaal Republic, in 1858, broke out into open hos- tility against, that of Orange River; party hatred and jeal- ousy seem to be as great in these little communities as in large- nations, and at this day, although both have increased in population and prosperity, there has been little improvement in the character of their inhabi- tants, wli<> are charged by the English with continual violence and cruelty towards the native tribes. It should be remembered, however, that the Dutch in South Africa, after an intercourse of a hundred and tit't\ ith the latter, cannot avoid retaining some of their characteristics. Their own development has been retarded, and they have been rendered less ac Sible to the Influences of modern civilization. The :it discovery of the diamond fields, whieh lie Chiefly within the territories of the two republics, and of the rich gold region beyond the Limpopo, will no doubt greatly hapten their growth, and gradually wear ITS DISCO VER Y AND SETTLEMEN T. t \ away tlie bitter mutual prejudice between them and their English neighbors. The last tifty years, it will be seen, have contributed more to the opening of South Africa, as a home for civ- ilized man, than the three centuries of Portuguese and Dutch rule, after the voyage of Vasco de Gama. The English colony of the Cape increases much more slowly than those in Australia, New Zealand, and other parts of the world, especially since communication with the latter colonies has been more speedily made by way of Suez and Panama ; but its growth appears to be steady and healthy. It claims possession of the coast from Whale Bay around to Delagoa Bay on the east, and of the interior territory, with the exception of a few small Kaffer or Bushmen sovereignties. Capetown has become a stately, well-built place of 30,000 inhab- itants, while Georgetown, Grahamstown, and Pori Natal are all flourishing towns. The entire popula- tion of the colony is about 225,000. The two Dutch republics open a communication far into the interior, and greatly facilitate its explora- tion. That of Orange River embraces the broad region between the upper valley of that river and its main tributary, the Yaal, — great plains of grass, broken with ridges of naked rock. It is a lofty, irregular table-land, with a healthy and equable climate. The Boers de- vote themselves principally to the raising of sheep and. cattle on the plains ; in the valleys nearer the moun- tains there are large plantations of grain and orchards cf fruit. The capital of the republic, Bloemfontain, ia a well-built town of about 200 houses, and 2,500 in- habitants; but the whole population of the repubJe 12 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. is not much more than 20,000 at present, including 5,000 natives. The territory of the Transvaal Republic is much more extensive. Towards the north it reaches the Limpopo River, but there is no fixed frontier, and it will probably be pushed onward towards the Zambesi, with the growth of the country. Commencing near the Vaal, with the same grassy plains as in the south- ern republic, the land rises into ranges of hills, between which lie broad valleys, with thickets, woods, and abundant streams. The soil is equally adapted for pas- turage and tillage. On account of the greater mild- ness of the climate, all kinds of fruit, especially grapes and oranges, attain an unusual perfection. Beyond the mountains to the northward the climate becomes trop- ical and unhealthy, and the tsetse — that fly whose bite is fatal to cattle — is found. Of late years the cultiva- tion of sugar and coffee has been successfully introduced, and the population somewhat increased by an immigra- tion of farmers and herdsmen from Scotland ; but it is still scanty, Potschefstrom, the capital, containing only about a thousand souls. Trade is carried on chiefly with the settlement on Delagoa Bay, which is a little Dearer than Port Natal. The discovery of diamond-fields and coal-mines in the Transvaal Republic, and of a gold region to the north of the Umpopo, promises to change the charac- ter of the country in a very short time. Indeed, these qcw sources of wealth have already given a fresh im- portance to South Africa, and will hasten the complete exploration of the regions first penetrated by Moffat, Aiiderson, and Livingstone. CHAPTER II. THE NATIVE TRIBES OF SOUTH AFRICA. ALTHOUGH the various native tribes of Africa, from the Atlas to the Cape of Good Hope, pos- sess so many common peculiarities of language and of physical structure, that they may be all classed as be- longing to the same original stock, yet those which in- habit the southern end of the Continent exhibit many curious and interesting features. The influences of cli- mate and habits of life Lave greatly modified their character and appearance, while they have remained in the same state of barbarism as the tropical tribes. The primitive inhabitants of the Cape country were the Hottentots, who are still scattered over the whole colony, gradually diminishing like the Indians and Polynesians, through their intercourse with civil- ized races. The name " Hottentot," which was given to them by the early settlers, does not seem to belong to any particular tribe ; the general designation which they use among themselves, is " Anaqua." They have long been held by the civilized world, and hardly with injustice, to be the very ideals of human ugliness, and some ethnologists place them lowest in the scale of races. The pure-blooded Hottentot is a weak, dwarfish creature, rarely five feet high, with a spine so curved 14 TRA VELS IN SO U Til A FRICA. towards the base that it gives him a half-stooping atti tude. His skull is flattened and retreating, and the head is sprinkled with little twists of short, thin wool, — a feature so comical, that it suggested to the Dutch settlers the nickname of " pepper-heads." The nose is so short and flat that it hardly can be called one, although the nostrils are very large, and the thick, projecting lips frequently cover one-third of the face. .Nevertheless, their hands and feet are remarkably deli- cate and beautiful ; full-grown Hottentots easily wear the gloves and shoes of European children of eight or nine years old. The race is characterized by a peculiar and exceed- ingly disagreeable odor, so powerful that it may often bo noticed in a room hours after a Hottentot has left it. For this reason they cannot be employed as house- servants, and all familiar intercourse with Europeans is prevented, except with the missionaries to whom such intercourse is a duty. As a natural consequence, the Hottentots are painted in very different colors by the latter and by English or Dutch colonists, the for- mer affirming that the work of conversion and civili- zation is succeeding among them, while the settlers Bay that they are still lazy, dishonest, and attached to the lowest features of their former life. The truth probably lies midway hit ween these two representations. The Elottentot is good-natured, social, and fond of music; therefore capable of a certain de- rive of civilization. On the other hand, he is indolent, capricious, servile under force, and impudent nude: kindness. lie is a child who requires a steady, strict, und humane discipline from the stronger race; but THE NA TIVE TRIBES. 15 this is not to be expected from any colonial govern- ment. A superior tribe, called the Griquas, has been pro- duced from the mixture of the Hottentots with the early Dutch settlers. They formed, at first, a nomadic race; but about the beginning of this century took possession of the territory along the Orange River, and gradually attached themselves to the soil. The mis- sionaries who had accompanied them in their wander- ings taught them to add agriculture to cattle-raising, to establish themselves in villages, and organize a prim- itive system of government. The settlement has now a capital, Griqua City, and a population of more than 20,000, which is rapidly increasing. The Griquas are taller and more vigorous than the Hottentots ; their skin has a lighter color, and their hair is more abundant. They are comparatively steady and industrious, less given to drunkenness, and their condition is regularly, if slowly, improving. In their settlement of Philippolis, on a branch of the Orange River, they have churches and schools, and cultivate large wheat-farms. Those of the tribe who retain more of the Hottentot blood and character, wander with their herds of cattle over the less fertile districts to the north of the river, where they have partly affil- iated themselves with another native tribe, the Koran- as, who somewhat resemlle them. The latter are also herdsmen, but cultivate maize, melons, and tobacco, and carry on a consideiable trade with the Cape, in cattle, hides and ostrich-feathers. Their former pro- pensity for war and plunder has been extinguished by the efforts of the missionaries who live among them. 16 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. The western coast of South Africa, on both side? of the Orange River, is called " Nam aqua-Land," from the large tribe of the Nauiaquas — a branch of the orig- inal Hottentot race — who inhabit it. Their home is found in those great sandy plains, which extend far inland, dotted with small oases, where scanty spring* of water appear or disappear, according to the season. The greater part of the territory belongs to the Cape Colony, but the Government exercises little or no au- thority over the Nauiaquas. They wander over the desert with their herds of dwarf cattle, said to be the smallest in the world, seeking the scanty tracts of pas- turage. Sometimes there is no rain for four or live years, and they are then compelled to approach the more fertile regions to the eastward. The Nauiaquas are taller than the Hottentots, astonishingly lean, with strongly projecting cheek-bones, oblique eyes, and have little woolly knobs instead of hair. Their lan- guage is considered the purest of the Hottentot dia- lects. The last and Lowest branch of this race is the Bllfthmen, as they are called by the settlers, their own name being Saab. The Bushman seems to be the native African savage, whom even the ruder civiliza- tion of his neighbors has left untouched, one of the lowest, most miserable and persecuted of tin 4 races of men. His home is in those desolate tracts of country which all other tribes have rejected as unlit for habita- tion. There are plenty o{' these tracts scattered over South Africa, and the Irishmen may therefore be found from the Karroo, or the Snowy Mountains, in the south, to Lake Xgaiui in the north, ranging from NAMAQUA MUSICIAN THE NA TIVE TRIBES. 17 will or necessity over hundreds of miles of territory. Their condition was the same as at present w T hen the Dutch landed in Table Bay : they were looked upon as savages and outlaws by their Hottentot relatives. The Bushman is only 4 feet high, but rather sym- metrical in form. His skin is jet-black, and only ap- pears gray from its permanent coating of dust and ashes. His woolly hair hangs in short twists over his forehead and ears, and one of his greatest delights is to grease these twists and decorate them with feathers, 6hells, or pieces of bone. His clothing consists of a skin over the shoulders, and a thin leather girdle around the loins. His dwelling, whenever he happens to have one, is of the very simplest kind. He will sleep under a bush, in a hedge-hog's hole, beside an ant-hill, in the cleft of a rock ; but sometimes he bends a few sticks in a semicircular form, fastens their ends in the earth, covers them with grass and creeps under them. The language of the tribe, originally Hottentot, has become so changed in their wandering life that it now scarcely appears to be an articulate speech. It is a continual clucking of the tongue against the teeth or the roof of the mouth, mixed with snorts through the nose. For a long time it was supposed that the Bushmen were incapable of being improved, but many of them have learned the Dutch language, and their children have even been taught to read and write. These savages live upon whatever they find in their way. They prefer beef, and are arrant robbers to obtain it : they shoot antelopes, gnus, hyenas, with imall poisoned a rows ; grasshoppers and worms are 18 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. welcome to them, and even the desert supplies a vari- ety of plants and roots which they eat raw. The Bushman wandering over the hare, burning sand, sees perhaps a single dried blade which no other eye than his own would detect ; he thrusts his bony linger into the soil, scoops out a rough bulb, and eats it as a deli- cious morsel. When he has slain a large animal, he so tills himself that he can afterwards go without food for a week. This mode of life, however, soon ex- hausts his vital forces; he is old, withered and gray at the age of forty, if, indeed, the bullet of a settler or the lance of a Kaffer has not pierced hiin long before that age. Not only the Dutch and English colonists, but every native tribe in South Africa, wage war upon the Bushmen. The latter, it is true, provoke this con- tinual hostility by their thefts of cattle from the outly- ing settlements. In former times it was customary to organize expeditions for the pursuit and slaughter of the Bushmen, and even now, after all the efforts made by missionaries, by the Government and by private individuals, but very little change has been effected. Almost the only successful attempt to improve the condition of the tribe was made by one of the BedlU ana chiefs, who collected a number of Bushmen to- gether, gave thorn cattle and persuaded them to culti- vate the soil. The descendants of these people, it is said, have entirely lost their nomadic instincts, and now resemble the other branches of the Hottentot race. The eastern half of South Africa, and a portion of the central region, is mainly inhabited by a very dit- THE NATIVE TRIBES. 19 ferent race of natives, all apparently related to each other, though now divided into distinct tribes, the Bechuanas, Bassutos, and the various branches of the Kaffers. The former inhabit the territory stretching from the upper waters of the Orange River northward to the Kalihari Desert and towards the Zambesi ; the Bassutos live on the western slopes of the Dragon Mountains, and the Kaffers (where they have not been forced into the interior by English settlement) have possession of the eastern coast. The Bechuanas have been made familiar to us by the missionary labors of Mr. Moffatt, one of the first and boldest explorers of the interior. They are a race superior to the Hottentots, both in physical structure and in their natural capacity for improvement. They live chiefly in kraals, or villages, cultivate the soil, and have a rude patriarchal form of government. Like their relatives, the Kaffers, they have produced many men of unusal energy and intelligence. The region inhabited by the Bassutos was an un- known land thirty or forty years ago. The Griquas and Koranas gave the first intimation of the existence of the race, and the zealous missionaries, guided by them, set out for this new field of labor. The chief of the Bassutos, Moshesh, who is still living, sent word that he desired a visit from some of the "men of prayer," in the hope that he might be protected by them from the forays of the Griquas. After a long and wearisome journey up the Caledon River, one of the southern branches of the Orange, the missionarie. saw at last the picturesque chain of the Dragon Moun tains. The rolling and ascending table-land over whick 20 TRA VELS IN Z^UTH AFRICA, they had travelled gave way to a singularly wild and broken country. Isolated mountains, or masses of sandstone rock, five or six hundred feet in height, and sometimes several miles in circumference, studded the region ; the vegetation was rich and strange, semi-trop- ical in character, and game was abundant. Between the peaks opened deep basins, or long, trough-like valleys, watered with beautiful streams. They found the chief Moshesh at his residence of Thaba Bossiu, a singular table-mountain, which the Bassutos had made inaccessible to their enemies. Owing to the security of the place, the valley was partly cultivated, and the adjacent region was dotted with villages and herds. The rains, which fall regularly on the mountains from October to April, nourish a rich vegetation, and those wild people, under the direction of their heroic chief, had already begun the cultivation of wheat and fruits. For a number of years the missionaries, who were French Protestants, worked among the Bassutos w r ith encouraging success. The people learned to read and write, showed an unusual quickness of understanding, and were deeply impressed by the Bible narrati Moshesh took the lead in these changes; the printing ot the Bible in the native language was commenced, and there was every prospect of the complete conversion of the tribe, when the emigration of the Dutch Bo and the establishment of their Orange River Republic interrupted the good work. The Hassuto territory was invaded, wars arose, the English Government sup- ported the petty chiefs in a revolt against Moshesh, the natives lost their faith in the efficacy of Christian MOSIIECH, CHIEF OF THE BASSUTOS THE NA TIVE TRIBES. 21 doctrines, and in four years had relapsed into worse than their former condition. Of late years the work has been resumed, since the establishment of a fixed boundary between the Boers and the Bassutos secure* a season of peace. The Bassutos, like the Bechuanas, are tall, strong, well-built, and often strikingly handsome in form, and quick and graceful in their movements. There is very little of the negro character in their faces, and some have the appearance of dark-brown Caucasians. They live in small straw-huts, shaped like bee-hives, and arranged in a circle, where their herds are kept at night. The chief's house stands alone, upon an eleva- ted point, near which there is an inclosure where the elders of the village meet to discuss matters of general interest, decide disputes, and punish crimes. The people live almost entirely in the open air, only enter- ing their huts when it rains, or in case of sickness. They have some mechanical skill, manufacturing their own knives, baskets, household implements, and even a kind of felt cloth. Like the Hottentots, they are lazy and thievish, the only employment which they relish being the herding of their cattle. The Bassuto will pass whole days sitting on his heels and talking with his neighbor, or smoking hemp until he is stupid, or lying on the ground in the sun, while his wife per- forms all the necessary household labors. The old chief Moshesh, in 1859, visited the settle- ment of Aliwal, on Orange River, in order to pay his respects to Prince Alfred and Governor Grey. lie was accompanied by three thousand Bassuto horsemen, five hundred of whom wore skins of lions and loop- 22 TRA VEL S IN SO U TH A FR1CA. ards. The wild war-dance wliicli they performed must have been the most remarkable spectacle seen by the Prince on his voyage around the world. Tlit old chief wore the European costume, with a high black hat and a heavy military cloak. On the top of his natural fortress of Thaba Bossiu he lias built an English house, and filled it with modern furnUure, but still lives in a little native hut, smears his body with a mixture of fat and red clay, and hangs around his neck every trinket which he can beg from a chance visitor. The Kaffers — a name derived from the Arabic kajtr, a heretic — inhabit all the country from the Snowy and Dragon Mountains to the Indian Ocean, while the same race is found between the Limpopo and the Zambesi Rivers, and, according to Livingstone, in the upper valley of that river. They are, in many respects, a remarkable race, showing a strange mixture of the native African and the Caucasian in their features, their habits of life and their intellectual qual- ities. For this reason some have conjectured that they are of mixed blood, produced — like the Griquaa, iu later times — by the intercourse of the Arabs with the natives of the eastern coast, during the Middle Ages. Although divided into many detached tribes, the essential characteristics of the race are found iu all. Proud, independent, courageous, and dignified in their bearing, they form the strangest possible contrast with the Hottentots; and they have many natural virtues which might have carried them far towards chilization, but for the wars into which they have been plunged by the rapacity of the Dutch and Eng- lish settlers. These wars have not only greatly di- THE NA TIVE TRIBES. 23 finished their numbers, but kept alive a feeling of implacable hatred towards the white race, which the missionaries have only mitigated, not subdued. The Amakosa Kaffers, inhabiting the beautiful ana fertile terraces of the eastern coast, furnish, perhaps, the best type of the race. Favored by soil and cli- mate, they have developed an unusual degree ot beauty and symmetry. Although their hair is woolly, and their lips and cheek-bones suggest the negro, the Cau- casian character is predominant, both in the features and the form of the skull. The forehead indicates in- telligence, and the aquiline nose and clear, brilliant eyes are thoroughly Semitic. These Kaffers are quick of apprehension, cunning, noble-minded and firm of character, yet cautious in manner, and with a certain expression of pride and reserve. Towards strangers their bearing is cold, almost contemptuous, and only slowly changes when their confidence has been secured. They are strong and active, and naturally averse to an indolent habit of life. Their activity, however, is rather manifested in war and the chase than in useful labor. In their public assemblies and debates they ex- hibit a genuine oratorical power, and the keenness and closeness of their reasoning is quite remarkable. They have both a local attachment, and a strong patriotic, or national, feeling, in which respect they differ favor- ably from almost all other native African tribes. The Kaffers are herdsmen, without being nomads. The fortunate chara ter of the territory where they settled long ago, after having, according to their tradi- tions, migrated from the north, gives them continual pastures, without changing their homes. The eastern 24 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. coast of Africa, for a breadth of fifteen or twenty miles, is tropical : then it gradually rises to a height of 2,000 feet above the sea> — a broad table-land, warm yet tem- perate, with a soil which produces all varieties of grain and fruit; and finally, twenty miles further, there is a second elevation of 2,000 feet, beyond which there are grand forests, and inexhaustible pastures. On these rising plateaux the Kaffers have lived for centuries, de- veloping a simple yet sufficient form of government, a rude religion, and a highly imaginative and pic- turesque literature. The races of South Africa thus divide themselves into two families, the limits of which are tolerably well defined. A line drawn north and south, through the centre of this extremity of the continent, would leave the Hottentot tribes on the west and the Kaffer tribes on the east. By bearing in mind the peculiar characteristics of each, and their differences, the reader will more readily comprehend the difficulties which em-rounded each special field of exploration. CHAPTER 111. AS we have already indicated, the Protestant mis- sionaries were really the first explorers of South Africa, for the exploration of the interior (beyond the discovery of the Orange River) did not commence until after the Cape Colony had passed into the hands of England. To comprehend how much those mis- sionaries dared, in their zeal for the conversion of the native tribes, we must remember how the hostility be- tween the Dutch Boers and the Hottentots, especially the Namaquas and Bushmen, had been confirmed by generations of warfare. It was a settled, chronic en- mity, and the suspicion which it engendered could only be overcome by slow degrees. The first missionaries sent to the Cape of Good Hope had, therefore, a far more serious task before them than the successors for whom they prepared the way. The patience, zeal and integrity of the Scotch charac- ter was admirably adapted to this arduous work, and in the annals of missionary enterprise there are no more deserving names than those of Campbell, Moffat, and Livingstone. The first of these greatly increased our knowledge of the native tribes, but dicl not accomplish a great deal in the way of exploration. Robert Moffat, who was sent out by the London Missionary Society in 2t) TRA VELS IN SOU Til AFRICA. 1817, and labored steadily in the field for nearly forty years, then transferring his mantle to the shoulders of his son-in-law, Livingstone, was the first to penetrate into the unknown regions beyond the Orange River, as far as the Bamangwato Mountains north of the head- waters of the Limpopo. His work, - Missionary Scenes and Labors in Southern Africa," published in London in 1842, is not a connected narrative of his journeys, but a series of incidents, observations and reflections, which, nevertheless, contains much geographical infor- mation that was new and valuable at the time. Mr. Moffat's first years were spent in what is called Great Namaqua-land, on the western coast, north of the Orange River, a country of sand and stones, with a thinly-scattered population, always suffering from the lack of water. The region is traversed by the Fish and Oup Rivers and their tributaries — or, rather, the glowing beds wherein those rivers flow, when there happens to be any water. " Sometimes," he says, " for years together, they are not known to run ; when, after the stagnant pools are dried up, the natives congregate to their beds and dig holes, or wells, in some instances to the depth of twenty feet from which they draw water, generally of a very inferior quality. They place branches of trees in the excavation, and with great labor, under a hot sun, hand up the water in a wooden vessel and pour it into an artificial trough, to which the panting, lowing herds approach, partially to satiate their thirst. Thunder-storms are eagerly anti- cipated, for by these only rain falls; and frequently these storms will pass over with tremendous violence, striking the inlnbitan's with awe, while not a single MOFFA TS MISSION 'AR Y JO URNE YS. 2 7 drop of rain descends to cool and fructify the parched waste. " When the heavens let down their watery treas- ures, it is generally in a partial strip of country which the electric cloud has traversed, so that the traveller will frequently pass, almost instantaneously, from ground on which there is not a blade of grass, into tracts of luxuriant green, sprung up after a passing storm. Fountains are indeed few and far between, the best very inconsiderable, frequently very salt, and some of them hot springs, while the surrounding soil is gen- erally so impregnated with saltpetre, as to crackle un- der the feet like hoar-frost, and it is with great difH culty that any kind of vegetable can be made to grow. Much of the country is hard and stony, interspersed with plains of deep sand. There is much granite, and quartz is so abundantly scattered, reflecting such a glare of light from the rays of the sun, that the trav- eller, if exposed at noonday, can scarcely allow his eye- lids to be sufficiently open to enable him to keep hir. course." The inhabitants of this region were the Namaqua branch of the Hottentots, who have already been des- cribed. Their chief at this time was a native named Africaner, who had been a slave to a Dutch farmer, but, having been treated with cruelty, murdered his master, led his tribe beyond the Orange Eiver, and thenceforth made such forays into the colony that his very name had become a terror. He was victorious over all native enemies, successful over all the plots made to destroy him, and his power seemed to inter- oose an insurmountable obstacle to any further advance 28 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. into the interior. The missionary, Campbell, however, conciliated his favor by a friendly letter; his colleague, Ebner, followed, and succeeded in converting Africaner and his family to Christianity. On Moffat's arrival at the Cape, he found Mr. Eb- ner, who had just returned from Africaners land, and he determined, at once, to accompany him thither. It was a proper beginning for his later labors. On ap- proaching the northern borders of the Cape Colony, he says : " It was evident to me, that the farmers, who, of course, had not one good word to say of Africaner, were skeptical to the last degree about his reported conversion, and most unceremoniously predicted my destruction. One said he would set me up as a mark for his boys to shoot at; another that he would strip off my skin and make a drum of it to dance to ; and another most consoling prediction was that he would make a drinking-cup of my skull. [ believe thev were serious, and especially a kind, motherly lady, who, wip- ing the tears from her eves, bade me farewell, saying: ' Had you been an old man, it would have been nothing, for you must soon have died, whether or no ; but you are young, and going to become a prey to that monster.' M Moffat safely reached Africaner's village, but the people were reserved, Bnspicioos and unfriendly. The chief did not immediately visit him, but when he had done so, and learned that Moffat had been sent out by the London Missionary Society, lie expressed his satisfaction, and added that as he was a young man he hoped he should live long with him and his people. He then ordered a number of women to come, an at- tention which somewhat puzzled the missionary, until MOFFA T'S MISSION A R Y JO URNE VS. 29 the women arrived, bearing bundles of native mats and long poles, like fishing-rods. Africaner pointed to a 6pot of ground, and said : " You must build there a house for the missionary." A circle was instantly formed, the women fixed the poles, tied them down in a hemispheric form, and covered them with mats, all ready for habitation, in the space of little more than half an hour. Mr. Moffat confesses, however, that a Hottentot house is not very comfortable. " I lived," he says, " nearly six months in this native hut, which very fre- quently required tightening and fastening after a storm. When the sun shone, it was unbearably hot, when the rain fell, I came in for a share of it; when the wind blew I had frequently to decamp to escape the dust ; and in addition to these little inconvenien- ces, any hungry cur of a dog that wished a night's lodging, would force itself through the frail wall, and not unfrequently deprive me of my meal for the coin- ing day ; and I have more than once found a serpent coiled up in a corner. Nor were these all the contin- gencies of such a dwelling, for, as the cattle belonging to the village had no fold, I have been compelled to start up from a sound sleep, and try to defend myself and my dwelling from being crushed to pieces by the rage of two bulls which had met to fight a nocturnal duel." It was soon evident that Africaner's conversion waa as genuine as his limited intelligence would admit. He attended seriously to Mr. Moffat's instructions, treated him in the most friendly manner, and even, at times, manifested a sensibility in regard to moral impressions, 30 TEA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. which could hardly have been expected in one of his degraded race. " One day, when seated together," the missionary relates, " I happened, in absence of mind, to be gazing steadfastly on him. It arretted hie attention, and he modestly inquired the cause. I re- plied, ' I was trying to picture to myself your carry- ing fire and sword through the country, and I could not think how eyes like yours could smile at human woe ! ' He answered not, but shed a flood of tears ! He zealously seconded my efforts to improve the peo- ple in cleanliness and industry, and it would have made anyone smile to have seen Africaner and myself super- intending the school children, now about a hundred and twenty, washing themselves at the fountain." The place which Africaner had selected for his vil- lage was not well adapted for a permanent habitation ; 60, accompanied by Moffat, he set out to examine the country to the northward. The record of this journey, however, relates rather to the natives than to the geo- graphical character of the region. Failing to find the requisite supply of water, they returned, and we can only guess that they must have penetrated as far as the tropical line. Several months afterwards, Moffat un- dertook to visit the Griqua country, further up the ( )range River, in the interest of Africaner, who was desirous of settling in some locality where his tribe could be permanently subsisted. This second journey was successful in its object, but, before commencing the migration, Moffat found it necessary to visit Capetown, and he proposed that Af- ricaner should accompany him. As a reward of a thousand dollars had been offered for the chief's head, MOFFA T'S MISSIONAR Y JO URNE VS. .31 both he and his people objected to the plan ; since, at though he might not be molested by the Government, he could hardly escape the vengeance of the colonists, through whose territory they must pass. It was finally arranged that Africaner should go in disguise, as Mof- fat's servant, and the latter set out on his return to civ- ilization. He relates an interesting incident which oc- curred after reaching the settlements : " On approaching the place, which was on an emi- nence, I directed my men to take the wagon to the valley below, while I walked towards the house. The farmer, seeing a stranger, came slowly down the descent to meet me. When within a few yards, I addressed'himin the usual way, and stretching out my hand, expressed my pleasure at seeing him again. He put his hand behind him, and asked me, rather wildly, who I was. I replied that I was Moffat, oxpressing my wonder that he should have forgotten me. 'Moffat !' he rejoined, in a faltering voice; 'it is your ghost ! ' and moved some steps backward. ' I am no ghost,' I said. 'Don't come near me ! ' he ex- claimed, ' you have been long murdered by Africaner.' ' But / am no ghost,' I said, feeling my hands, as if to convince him, and myself too, of my materiality; but his alarm only increased. 'Everybody says you were murdered, and a man told me he had seen your bones ; ' and he continued to gaze at me, to the no small aston- ishment of the good wife and children, who were standing at the door, as also to that of my own people, who were looking on from the wagon below. At 'ength he extended his trembling hand, saying, 4 When did you rise from the dead V 32 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. '* As he feared my presence would alarm his wife, we bent our steps towards the wagon, and Africaner was the subject of our conversation. I gave him in a few words my views of his present character, saying: ' lie is now a truly good man,' — to which he replied : ' I can believe almost anything you say, but that I can- not credit.' By this time we were standing with Af- ricaner at our feet ; on his countenance sat a smile, he well knowing the prejudices of some of the farmers. The man closed the conversation by saying, with much earnestness, ' Well, if what you assert be true respecting that man, I have only one wish, and that is, to see him before I die; and when you return, as sure as the sun is over our heads, I will go with you to see him, though he killed my own uncle.' I was not be- fore aware of this fact, and now felt some hesitation whether to discover to him the object of his wonder; but knowing the sincerity of the farmer and the good- ness of his disposition, I said, i This, then, is Afri- caner.' lie started back, looking intensely at the man as if lie had just dropped from the clouds. 'Are you Africaner?' he exclaimed. The chief arose, doffed his old hat, and making a polite bow, answered, ' I am.' The farmer seemed thunder-struck; but when, by a few questions, he had assured himself of the fact, that the former bugbear of the border stood before him, now meek and lamb-like in his whole deportment, he lilted up his eyes and exclaimed, *0 God, what a mir- acle of thy power! what cannot thy grace accom- plish!' The kind fanner and his no less hospitable wife, now abundantly supplied our wants; but we has tened our departure lest the intelligence might get MOFFA T'S MISSIONAR Y JO URNE VS. 33 abroad that Africaner was with me, and bring un- pleasant visitors." On arriving at Capetown, Africaner was received with much kindness by the Governor, Lord Charles Somerset. His presence produced a great sensation among the people, who were only gradually convinced of the sincerity of his conversion; but at a public meeting, which was held for the purpose, he displayed a surprising familiarity with the Gospel narratives and teachings. This first success encouraged Mr. Moffat to continue his labors, and in 1821 he established him- self at Kuruman, in the Beclmana country. He was forced to contend with great difficulties, on account of the lazy and thievish habits of the natives, and their indifference to instruction, unless it was accompanied by some material advantage. The vegetables, which the missionaries had raised with great labor, would be stolen from their gardens ; their houses were pilfered during service on the Sabbath ; and the conduct of even the converted natives was so careless and irrev- erent that the teachers were greatly discouraged. After five years of the greatest patience they had made so little impression on the minds of the people, that their position among them seemed as insecure as at the beginning. The incident which revealed this insecu- rity is a curious illustration of the superstitions of the Bechuanas. "Years of drought had been severely felt," says Moffat, " and the natives, tenacious of their faith in the potency of a man, held a council, and passed resolutions to send for a rain-maker of renown from the Bahurutsi tribe, two hundred miles uorth-east of the Kuruman *2 J>4 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. station. Rain-makers have always most honor among a strange people, and therefore they are generally for eigners. The heavens had been as brass, — scarcely a cloud had been seen for months, even on the distant horizon. Suddenly a shout was raised, and the whole town was in motion : the rain-maker was approaching. Every voice was raised to the highest pitch, with ac- clamations of enthusiastic joy. He had sent a harbin- ger to announce his approach, with peremptory orders for all the inhabitants to wash their feet. Every one seemed to fly in swiftest obedience to the adjoining river. Noble and ignoble, even the girl who attended to our kitchen-fire, ran; old and young ran; all the world could not have stopped them. By this time the clouds began to gather, and a crowd went out to wel- come the mighty man, who, as they imagined, was now collecting in the heavens his stores of rain. " Just as he was descending the height into the town, the immense concourse danced and shouted, so that the very earth rang, and at the same time the lightnings darted, and the thunders roared in awful grandeur. A few heavy drops fell, which produced the most thrilling ecstacy in the deluded multitude, whose ehontinga battled all description. Faith hung upon the lips of the impostor, while he proclaimed aloud that this year the women must cultivate gardens on the hiljs and not in the valleys, for the latter would be deluged. After the din had somewhat subsided, a few individuals came to our dwellings to treat us ami our doctrines with derision. 'Where is your Godt 1 one asked with a sneer. We were sileut, because the wicked were before us. * Have you not seen our MOFFA T'S MISSION A R Y JO URNE VS. 35 Morimo? Have you not beheld him cast from his arm the fiery spears, and rend the heavens? Have you not heard with your ears his voice in the clouds ? ' adding with an interjection of supreme disgust, ' Yon talk of Jehovah and Jesus, what can they do % ' Never in my life do I remember a text being brought home with such power as the words of the Psalmist, 'Be still, and know that I am God : I w T ill be exalted among the heathen.' " The rain-maker found the clouds in our country rather harder to manage than those he had left. He complained that secret rogues were disobeying his proclamations. When urged to make repeated trials, he would reply, ' You only give me sheep and goats to kill, therefore I can only make goat-rain; give me fat slaughter-oxen, and I shall let you see ox-rain.' One da}^, as he was taking a sound sleep, a shower fell, on which one of the principal men entered his house to congratulate him, but to his utter amazement found him totally insensible to what was transpiring. * Hal- loo, by my father ! I thought you w r ere making rain,' said the intruder; when the magician arising from his slumbers, and seeing his wife sitting on the floor, shaking a milk-sack, in order to obtain a little butter, to anoint her hair, he replied, pointing to the operation of churning, ' Do you not see my wife churning rain as fast as she can ? ' This reply gave entire satisfaction, and it presently spread through the length and breadth of the town, that the rain-maker had churned the shower out of a milk-sack. The moisture caused by this shower was dried up by a scorching sun ; many long weeks followed without a single cloud, and when 36 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. they did appear, they were sometimes seen, to the great mortification of the conjurer, to discharge their watery treasures at an immense distance. " The rain-maker had recourse to numerous expe- dients and stratagems, and continued his performances for many weeks. All his efforts, however, proving unsuccessful, he kept himself very secluded for a fortnight, and, after cogitating how he could make his own cause good, he appeared in the public fold, and proclaimed that he had discovered the cause of the drought. All were now eagerly listening ; he dilated some time, until he had raised their expectation to the highest pitch, when he revealed the mystery. * Do you not see, when clouds come over us, that Hamilton and Moffat look at them '( ' This question receiving a hearty and unanimous affirmation, he added that our white faces frightened away the clouds, and they need not expect rain so long as we were in the country. This was a home-stroke, and it was an easy matter for us to calculate what the influence of such a charge Mould be on the public mind. We were very soon in fori ncd of the evil of our conduct, to which we plead guilty, promising that as we were nut aware that we were doing wrong, being as anxious as any of them for rain, we would willingly look to our chins, or the ground all the day long, if it would serve their purpose. It was rather remarkable, that much as they admired my long black board, they thought that in this case it was most to blame. However, this season of trial passed over to our great comfort, though it was followed for some time with many indications of suspicion and distrust." MOFFA T'S MISSION A R Y JO URNE VS. 37 For a number of years Mr. Moffat continued Lis missionary labors, gradually extending liis journeys further into the interior. He made the acquaintance of the Barolon^ tribe, who live to the north of the Bechuana, among the Bawangwato Mountains, which divide the waters of the Orange River from the Kal- ihari Desert. His accounts of the character and cus- toms of the native tribes are very thorough and com- plete ; and if he gives us few geographical details, he at least opened the way for geographical explorers. His account of the manner in which the conversion of the natives is preceded or accompanied by external signs, entirely corresponds with the later observations of Livingstone. " For a long period," he says, " when a man was seen to make a pair of trowsers for himself, or a woman a gown, it was a sure indication that we might expect additions to our inquirers. Abandoning the custom of painting the body, and beginning to wash with water, was with them what cutting off the hair was among the South-Sea islanders, — a public re- nunciation of heathenism. In the progress of improve- ment during the years which followed, and by which many individuals who made no profession of the Gospel were influenced, we were frequently much amused. A man might be seen in a jacket with but one sleeve, because the other was not finished, or he lacked material to complete it ; another in a leathern or duf- fle jacket, with the sleeves of different colors, or of fine printed cotton. Gowns were seen like Joseph's coat of many colors, and dresses of such fantastic shapes as were calculated to excite a smile in the gravest of 38 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. In the course of time the missionary stations were pushed as far as the village of Kolobeng, on the head- waters of the Limpopo, in Lat. 24° S., and consequently near the tropical line. The unknown territory to the north-east of this point, lying between the Limpopo and Zambesi rivers, was inhabited by the Matsebele, a branch of the Kaffers, whose chief, Mosilikatse, had acquired great renown through South Africa, carrying his hostile inroads in all directions, even as far as the Orange River. In 1829 two messengers of the chief visited the country of the Bechuanas, and Mr. Moffat determined to accompany them on their return. It was a hazardous journey, but the intrepid missionary was not to be turned aside from his purpose. On the way, he fell in with a tribe of natives which no white man had ever before seen. On reaching the first cattle outposts of the Matse- bele tribe, they encamped beside a line rivulet. " My attention," says Mr. Moffat, " was arrested by a beau- tiful and gigantic tree, standing in a defile leading into an extensive and woody ravine, between a high range of mountains. Seeing some individuals em- ployed on the ground under its shade, and the conical points of what looked like houses in miniature pro- truding through its evergreen foliage 4 , I proceeded thither, and found that the tree was inhabited 1>\ sev- eral families of Bakones, the aborigines of the country. I ascended by the notched trunk, and found, to my amazement, no less than seventeen of these aerial abodes, and three others unfinished. On reaching the topmost hut, about thirty feet from the ground, I en- tered and sat down. Its only furniture was the hay MOFFA T ' S MISSION A RY JO URNE VS. 39 which covered the floor, a spear, a spoon, and a bowl- full of locusts. Not having eaten anything that day, and, from the novelty of my situation, not wishing to return immediately to the wagons, I asked a woman, who sat at the door with a babe at her breast, permis- sion to eat. This she granted with pleasure, and soon brought me more, in a powdered state. Several more females came from the neighboring roosts, stepping from branch to branch to see the stranger, who was as great a curiosity to them as the tree was to him. I then visited the different abodes, which were on sev- eral principal branches. The structure of these houses was very simple. An oblong scaffold, about seven feet wide, is formed of straight sticks ; on one end of this platform a small cone is formed, also of straight sticks, and thatched with grass. A person can nearly stand upright in it ; the diameter of the floor is about six feet. The house stands on the end of the oblong, so as to leave a little square space before the door. On the day previous I had passed several villages, some containing forty houses, all built on poles about seven or eight feet from the ground, in the form of a circle; the ascent and descent are by a knotty branch of a tree placed in front of the house. In the centre of the circle there is always a heap of the bones of the game they have killed. Such were the domiciles of the impoverished thousands of the aborigines of the country, who, having been scattered and peeled by Mosilikatse, had neither herd nor stall, but subsisted on locusts, roots, and the chase. They adopted this mode of architecture to escape the lions which abound in that country." £0 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. Mr. Moffat was kindly received by the chief, Mo silikatse, who patiently listened to his instructions, but does not appear to have profited by them. lie re- turned in safety to the Bechuana country, and finally, in the years 1837 and 1838, had the satisfaction of seeing a great and wide-spread movement among the natives to adopt Christianity and accustom themselves to settled and industrious habits of life. More than any other man, Mr. Moffat opened the interior of South Africa, from the Orange River to the tropical line, and when he relaxed from his long and arduous task, there was another ready to take it up and carry it so far that we may safely say that no other individual has contributed so much to our knowledge of the unknown interior of Africa. This man, who took Moffat's daughter as his wife, and made her the companion of his first journeys of exploration, was David Livingstone. HIPPOPOTAMUS TRAP. CHAPTER IV. LIVINGSTONE'S DISCOVERY OF IAKE NGAMI. DR. LIVINGSTONE, in the opening chapter of his " Travels and Researches in South Africa," gives an interesting description of his youth, and the manner in which he educated himself for the missionary field, not then anticipating a life of discovery. His father was a small tradesman in a village near Glasgow, and his own early years were spent in a cotton factory, where he acquired the scanty means which were neces- sary for a limited education. He studied Latin at night, read all books upon which he could lay his hands, preferring scientific works and books of travel, and finally, having been brought up by his parents under strict religious influences, determined to qualify himself for the office of missionary among the Chinese. While working as a cotton-spinner, at the age of nineteen, he contrived to carry on his studies in Greek, divinity and medicine, and without aid from any one succeeded in graduating in the latter branch. At this time some friends advised him to apply to the Lon- don Missionary Society, on account of its unsectarian character. The opium war, which was then raging, interfered with his original plan of going to China, and, after having been accepted by the London Society, and prepared himself still further by a course of the- i2 DISCO VER Y OF LAKE NGAMI. ology in England, lie was induced to look upon South Africa as the Held of his future labors. In 1840 he sailed from England, a young man of twenty-two, full of health, strength, hope, and courage. The general instructions which he received from the Directors of the London Missionary Society led him, as soon as he had reached Kurnman, which was then their farthest inland station from the Cape, to turn his attention to the regions lying north of that point. He therefore lost no time in visiting the Bak- wain country and making the acquaintance of the chief Sechele. The result of this trip was that he es- tablished himself in a spot, fifteen miles from the chief's residence; and there, in order to obtain an ac- curate knowledge of the language, cut himself oft' from all European society for six months. lie thus gained an insight into the habits, ways of thinking, laws and language of that section of the Bechnanas called Bak- wains, which proved to be of incalculable advantage in his later travels. During a journey to the north in 1842, he was, without knowing it, within ten days of the waters flowing into Lake Ngami, and might then have discovered that lake, if discovery had been his object. Having finally selected the beautiful valley of Ma- botsa (in Lat. 25° 14' S.) as the site of a new mission- ary station, he settled there in 1843. Here an occur- rence took place, which came near putting an end to his adventurous career. The neighborhood was infected with lions, which even attacked the herds of the na- tives in open day. This was so unusual an occurrence that the people believed they were bewitched, that is, DISCOVER Y OF LAKE NGAMI. 43 given into the power of the lions by a neighboring tribe. What followed must be given in Livingstone's own words : "It is well known that if one of a troop of lions is killed, the others take the hint and leave that part of the country. So, the next time the herds were at- tacked, I went with the people, in order to encourage them to rid themselves of the annoyance by destroying one of the marauders. We found the lions on a small hill about a quarter of a mile in length, and covered with trees. A circle of men was formed round it, and they gradually closed up, ascending pretty near to each other. Being down below on the plain with a native schoolmaster, named Mebalwe, a most excellent man, I saw one of the lions sitting on a piece of rock within the now closed circle of men. Mebalwe fired at him before I could, and the ball struck the rock on which the animal was sitting. He bit at the spot struck, as a dog does at a stick or stone thrown at him; then leaping away, broke through the opening circle and escaped unhurt. The men were afraid to attack him, perhaps on account of their belief in witchcraft. When the circle was re-formed, we saw two other lions in it; but we were afraid to fire lest we should strike the men, and. they allowed the beasts to burst through also. If the Bakatla had acted according to the custom of the county they would have speared the lions in their attempt to get out. Seeing we could not get them to kill one of the lions, we bent our foot- steps toward the village ; in going round the end of the hill, however, I saw one of the beasts sitting on a piece of rock as before, but this time he had a little 44 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. bush in front. Being about thirty yards oft', I took a good aim at his body through the bush, and fired both barrels into it. The men then called out, ' He is shot, he is shot ! ' Others cried, ' He has been shot by an- other man too; let us go to him!' I did not see any one else shoot at him, but I saw the lion's tail erected in anger behind the bush, and, turning to the people, said, ' Stop a little, till I load again.' When in the act of ramming down the bullets, I heard a shout. Starting, and looking half round, I saw the lion just in the act of springing upon me. I was upon a little height ; he caught my shoulder as he sprang, and we both came to the ground below together. Growling horribly close to my ear, he shook me as a terrier dog does a rat. The shock produced a stupor similar to that which seems to be felt by a mouse after the first shake of the cat. It caused a sort of dreami- ness, in which there was no sense of pain nor feeling of terror, though quite conscious of all that was happening. It was like what patients partially under the inliuence of chloroform describe, who see all the operation, but feel not the knife. This singular condition was not the result of any mental process. The shake annihil- ated fear, and allowed no sense of horror in looking round at the beast. This peculiar state is probably produced in all animals killed by the earnivora ; and if so, is a merciful provision by our benevolent Creator for lessening the pain of death. Turning round to re- lieve myself of the weight, as he had one paw on the back of my head, I saw his eyes directed to Mehalwc, who was trying to shoot him at a distance often <>r fifteen yards. His gun, a flint one, nii>sed fire in both LIVINGSTONE ATTACKED BY A LION. DISCO VER Y OF LAKE NGAMI. 45 barrels ; the lion immediately left me, and, attack- ing Mebalwe, bit his thigh. Another man, whose life I had saved before, after he had been tossed by a buf- falo, attempted to spear the lion while he was biting Mebalwe. He left Mebalwe and caught this man by the shoulder, but at that moment the bullets he had received took effect, and he fell down dead. Tie whole was the work of a few moments, and must have been his paroxysms of dying rage. In order to take out the charm from him, the Bakatla on the following day made a huge bonfire over the carcass, which was declared to be that of the largest lion they had ever seen. Besides crunching the bone into splinters, he left eleven teeth wounds on the upper part of my arm. "A wound from this animal's tooth resembles a gun-shot wound ; it is generally followed by a great deal of sloughing and discharge, and pains are felt in the part periodically ever afterward. Iliad on a tartan jacket on the occasion, and I believe that it wiped off all the virus from the teeth that pierced the flesh, for my two companions in this affray have both suffered from the peculiar pains, while I have escaped with only the inconvenience of a false joint in my limb. The man whose shoulder was wounded showed me his wound actually burst forth afresh on the same month of the following year. This curious point deserves the attention of inquirers." Livingstone was as successful with the chief Sechele as Moffat had been with Africaner. He converted him and his family, and acquired so much influence with the people, that he persuaded them to settle upon 46 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. the Kolobeng River, and cultivate the soil. For years the colony was visited by a terrible drought, and an- noyed by the hostility of the Boers of the Transvaal Republic, who were now their near neighbors, and who retained their old habits of compelling the natives to labor for them without pay. Livingstone's endeav- ors to protect the people only brought upon himself the jealousy and enmity of the Boers, who finally devastated the settlement at Kolobeng and plundered his house, during his absence in 1S52. The projected journey into the Kalihari Desert, and the search for the great lake Ngami, accounts of which had been received from the natives long before, was delayed for some years by these troubles. The Bechuanas, also, had a superstitious terror of the desert, and it was not easy to induce them to accompany the expedition. But early in 1849, two English gentle- men, Messrs. Oswell and Murray, offered to join Liv- ingstone, and he immediately made preparations for the journey. lie had married the daughter of Moffat some years before, and determined to take his wife and children with him. It was a fortunate circum- stance, that, while they were preparing, a party of natives from the neighborhood of the lake came to Kolobeng, with an invitation to Livingstone from their chief. The party started on the 1st of June, and after travelling five or six days towards the Bamangwato Mountains, struck off northward into the Kalihari Desert. This is not a sandy region, destitute of veg- etable and animal life, for it is covered with grass and a great variety of creeping plants ; besides which there DISCO VER Y OF LAKE NGAMI. 4.7 are large patches of bushes, and even trees. It is flat, but occasionally crossed by the beds of ancient rivers, and the abundant grass supports immense herds of ante- lopes, who require little or no water. The number of tuberous-rooted plants is very great, and many varieties of them supply both food and drink to the -wandering tribes. One of these, indicated on the surface only by a thin, grass-like blade, has a root the size of a child's head, at the depth of eighteen inches; the rind is filled with a cool, juicy pulp, with a flavor like that of a turnip. After rains, great tracts of the desert are covered with wild watermelons and scarlet cucumbers, some of which are intensely bitter and poisonous, while others are entirely sweet and wholesome. At a station called Seroti, the travellers were obliged to dig trenches in the soil, and wait until they slowly filled with water for their oxen, since there was a waterless tract, seventy miles in breadth, to be crossed. But the soil was sandy, and the progress of the wagons very slow ; at the end of three days they had only made forty-four miles. The horses were sent in advance with some natives, but the latter lost their way, and rejoined the thirsty caravan. From this state of suffering they were relieved by the discovery of a pool of rain-water, and soon afterwards reached the dry bed of a river named Mokoko. They again lost their way, and were guided to a ^vatering-place by a lonely Bushwoman whom they found in the desert. Beyond this they crossed saline plains, where the mir- age constantly cheated them into the belief that they had found Lake Ngami, although it was still three hundred miles distant. 48 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. On the 4th of July they reached the Zouga River, which flowed in a north-easterly direction. The natives assured them that the water came from the lake. Here two men of the Bamangwato tribe, who had accompa- nied them, started in advance, up the river, circulating reports among the natives that the object of the strang- ers was to plunder them. This might have occasioned much difficulty, had not one of the men been stricken with fever, and soon died. The people connected his death in some way with the fact that he was trying to injure the strangers, and, although they were armed at first, they soon became friendly and confiding. " When we had gone up the bank of this beautiful river about ninety-six miles from the point where we first struck it," says Livingstone, "and understood that we were still a considerable distance from the Kgami, we left all the oxen and wagons, except Mr. Oswell's, which was the smallest, and one team, atNgabisane, in the hope that they would be recruited for the home jour- ney, while we made a push for the lake. The Bechu- ana chief of the Lake region, who had sent men to Sechele, now sent orders to all the people on the river to assist us, and we were received by the Bakoba, whose language clearly shows that they bear an affinity to the tribes in the north. They call themselves Bajeiye, i. e., men ; but the Bechuanas call them Bakoba, which contains somewhat of the idea of slaves. They have never been known to light, and indeed have a tradi- tion that their forefathers, in their first essays at war, made their bows of the Talma Christi, and, when these broke, they gave up fighting altogether. They have invariably submitted to the rule of every horde which DISCO VER Y OF LAKE NGAML 49 has overrun the countries adjacent to the rivers on which they specially love to dwell. They are thus the Quakers of the body politic in Africa. " The canoes of these inland sailors are truly primi- tive craft: they are hollowed out of the trunks of single trees by means of iron adzes; and if the tree has a bend, so has the canoe. I liked the frank and manly bearing of these men, and, instead of sitting in the wagon, preferred a seat in one of the canoes. I found they regarded their rude vessels as the Arab does his camel. They have always tires in them, and prefer sleeping in them while on a journey to spending the night on shore. ' On land you have lions,' say they, 'serpents, hyaenas, and your enemies; but in your canoe, behind a bank of reed, nothing can harm you.' Their submissive disposition leads to their vil- lages being frequently visited by hungry strangers. We had a pot on the lire in the canoe by the way, and when we drew near the villages devoured the contents. When fully satisfied ourselves, I found we could all look upon any intruders with perfect complacency, and show the pot in proof of having devoured the last morsel. " Twelve days after our departure from the wagons at Ngabisane we came to the north-east end of Lake Ngami; and on the 1st of August, 1849, we went down together to the broad part, and, for the first time, this fine looking sheet of water w r as beheld by Euro- peans. The direction of the lake seemed to be N.jN.E. and S.S.W. by compass. The southern portion is said to bend round to the west, and to receive the Teoughe from the north at its northwest extremity. We could 4 50 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. detect no horizon where we stood lcoking S.S.W., nor nor could we form any idea of the extent of the lake, except from the reports of the inhabitants of the dis- trict ; and, as they profess to go round it in three days, allowing twenty-fi ve miles a day would make it seventy- five, or less than seventy geographical miles in circum- ference. Other guesses have been made since as to its circumference, ranging between seventy and one hun- dred miles. It is shallow, for I subsequently saw a native punting his canoe over seven or eight miles of the north-east end ; it can never, therefore, be of much value as a commercial highway. In fact, during the months preceding the annual supply of water from the north, the lake is so shallow that it is with difficulty cattle can approach the water through the boggy, reedy banks. These are low on all sides, but on the west there is a space devoid of trees, showing that tho waters have retired thence at no very ancient date. This is another of the proofs of desiccation met with so abundantly throughout the whole country. A num- ber of dead trees lie on this space, sonic of them im- bedded in the mud, right in the water. We were informed by the Bayeiye, who live on the lake, that when the annual inundation begins, not only trees of great size, but antelopes, are swept down by its rush- ing waters ; the trees are gradually driven by the the winds to the opposite side, and become imbedded in mud. "The water of the lake is perfectly fresh when full, but brackish when low; and that coming down the Tamunakle we found to be 60 clear, cold, and soft, tha higher we ascended, tha* the idea of melting DISCO VER V OF LA KE NGAMI. 51 snow was suggested to our minds. We found this region, with regard to that from which we had come, to be clearly a hollow, the lowest point being Lake Kumadan ; the point of the ebullition of water, as shown by one of Newman's barometric thermometers, was only between 207^-° and 206°, giving an elevation of not much more than two thousand feet above the level of the sea. "We had descended above two thou- sand feet in coming to it from Kolobeng. It is the southern and lowest part of the great river system be- yond, in which large tracts of country are inundated annually by tropical rains. "My chief object in coming to the lake was to visit Sebituane, the great chief of the Makololo, who was reported to live some two hundred miles beyond. We had now come to a half-tribe of the Bamangwato, called Batauana. Their chief was a young man named Lechulatebe. Sebituane had conquered his father Moremi, and Lechulatebe received part of his education while a captive among the Bayeiye. His uncle, a sensible man, ransomed him ; and, having col- lected a number of families together, abdicated the chieftainship in favor of his nephew. As Lechulatebe had just come into power, he imagined that the proper way of showing his abilities was to act directly contrary to everything that his uncle advised. When we came, the uncle recommended him to treat us handsomely, therefore the hopeful youth presented us with a goat only. It ought to have been an ox. So I proposed to my companions to loose the animal and let him go, as a hint to his master. They, however, did not wish to insult him. [, being more of a native, 5 2 TRA VELS IN SO UTII AFRICA. and familiar with their customs, knew that this shabby present was an insult to us. We wished to purchase some goats or oxen ; Lechulatebe offered us elephants' tusks. 'No, we cannot eat these; we want something to fill our stomachs.' 'Neither can I; but I hear you white men are all very fond of these bones, so I offer them ; I want to put the goats into my own stomach.' A trader, who accompanied us, was then purchasing ivory at the rate of ten good large tusks for a musket worth thirteen shillings. They were called 'bones;' and I myself saw eight instances in which the tusks had been left to rot with the other bones where the elephant fell. The Bata- uana never had a chance of a market before ; but, in less than two years after our discovery, not a man of them could be found who was not keenly alive to the great value of the article. " On the day after our arrival at the lake, I applied to Lechulatebe for guides to Sebituane. As he was much afraid of that chief, he objected, fearing lest other white men should go thither also, and give Seb- ituane guns ; whereas, if the traders came to him alone, the possession of tire-arms would give him such a superiority, that Sebituane would be afraid of him. It was in vain to explain that I would inculcate pe between them — that Sebituane had been a father to him and Sechele, and was as anxious to see me, as 1k\ Lechulatebe, had been. He offered to give m< much ivory as I needed without going to that chief; but when I refused to take any, he unwillingly con tented to give me guides. Next day, however, when Oswell and I were prepared to start, with the horses DISCO VER Y OF LA KE NGA Ml. 5 3 only, we received a senseless refusal ; and like Sekomi, who had thrown obstacles in our way, he sent men to Bayeiye with orders to refuse us a passage across the river. Trying hard to form a raft at a narrow part, I worked many hours in the water ; but the dry wood was so worm-eaten that it would not bear the weight Df a single person. I was not then aware of the num- ber of alligators which exist in the Zouga, and never think of my labor in the water, without feeling thank- ful that I escaped their jaws The season w r as now far advanced ; and as Mr. Oswell, with his wonted gener- ous feelings, volunteered, on the spot, to go down to the Cape and bring up a boat, we resolved to make our way south again." The Makololo tribe, of which Livingstone speaks, were destined to play a very important part in his later explorations. Although disappointed in his first at- tempt to visit them, he had at least found a practicable way by which the interior of the continent might be reached. The discovery of Lake Ngami was received in Europe with great interest, and this success encour- aged the London Missionary Society to employ Living- stone thenceforth in that work of exploration, which must, to some extent, precede the labors of the mis- sionary. The immense numbers of elephants, also which the travellers found on descending the Zouga River, drew the attention of sportsmen and traders to this region, and hastened the opening of the entire re- gion to the southward and westward of the lake. The return journey was accomplished without ac- cident, and the party reached Kolobeng towards the close of the vear 1849. CHAPTER V. Livingstone's first journky to the zambesi. IN April, 1850, Livingstone again left Kolobeng with his wife, three children, and the chief Sechele, their object being to cross the Zonga at its lower end, follow the northern bank until they reached the other river, and then ascend the latter until they should find the Makololo country. The journey was prosecuted with- out much difficulty until, at the confluence of the Zouga with the Tamunakle, the appearance of the fly called tsetse obliged them to cross the former river in order to save their oxen. Here Livingstone .learned that a party of Englishmen, who had come to the lake in search of ivory, were lying ill of fever, and turned aside for a time to take care of them. The result of the undertaking, which promised so favorably, up to the last moment, will be best given in Livingstone's own words: "Sechele \i±vd all his powers of eloquence with Lechulatebe to induce him to furnish guides that I might be able to visit Sebi- tuane on ox-back, while Mrs. Livingstone and the children remained at Lake N garni. He yielded at last. I had a very superior London-made gun, the qilt of Lieutenant Arkwright, on which I placed the greatest value, both on account of the donor and the impossibility of my replacing it. Lechulatebe fell violently in love with it, and otfered whatever number JOURNEY TO THE ZAMBESI. 55 of elephants' tusks I might ask for it. I, too, was enamored with Sebituane ; and as he promised in addition that he would furnish Mrs. Livingstone with meat all the time of my absence, his arguments made me part with the gun. Though he had no ivory at the time to pay me, I felt the piece would be well spent on those terms, and delivered it to him. All being ready for our departure, I took Mrs. Livingstone about six miles from the town, that she might have a peep at the broad part of the lake. Next morning we had other work to do than part, for our little boy and girl were seized with fever. On the day following, all our servants were down, too, with the same complaint. As nothing is better in these cases than change of place, I was forced to give up the hope of seeing Sebituane that year ; so, leaving my gun as part pay- ment for guides next year, we started for the pure air of the Desert. " Some mistake had happened in the arrangement with Mr. Oswell, for we met him on the Zouga on our return, and he devoted the rest of this season to ele pliant-hunting, at which the natives universally declare he is the greatest adept that ever came into the coun- try. He hunted without dogs. It is remarkable that this lordly animal is so completely harassed by the presence of a few yelping curs, as to be quite incapable of attending to man. He makes awkward attempts to crush them by falling on his knees; and sometimes peaces his forehead against a tree ten inches in diam- eter; glancing on one side of the tree and then on the other, he pushes it down, before him, as. if he thought thereby to catch his enemies. The only danger the 56 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. huntsman has to apprehend is the dogs running to* ward him, and thereby leading the elephant to their mas- ter. Mr. Oswell has been known to kill four large old male elephants a day. The value of the ivory in these cases would be one hundred guineas. We had reason to be proud of his success, for the inhabitants conceived from it a very high idea of English courage; and when they wished to flatter me, would say, 'If you were not a missionary you would just be like Oswell ; you would not hunt with dogs either.' When, in 1852, we came to the Cape, my black coat eleven years out of fashion, and without a penny of salary to draw, we found that Mr. Oswell had most generously ordered an outfit for the half-naked children, which cost about £200, and presented it to us, saying he thought Mrs. Livingstone had a right to the game of her own pre- serves. " Foiled in this second attempt to reach Sebituane, we returned again to Kolobeng, whither we were soon followed by a number of messengers from that chief himself. When he heard of our attempts to visit him, he dispatched three detachments of his men with thir- teen brown cows to Lechulatebe, thirteen white cows to Sekomi, and thirteen black cows to Sechele, with a request to each to assist the white men to reach him. Their policy, however, was to keep him out of view, and act as his agents in purchasing with his ivory the goods he wanted. This is thoroughly African ; and that continent being without friths and arms of the sea, the tribes in the centre have always debarred from European intercourse by its universal prevalence among all the people around the coast-." JOURNEY TO THE ZAMBESI. fn Setting out for the third time with his family ai Mr. Oswell, Livingstone reached the last wells in the neighborhood of the Zouga River, and then, instead of turning westward towards Lake Ngami, as on the first and second journeys, pushed on in a northern course towards the Makololo country, guided by a Bushman who knew the way. They entered upon a hot, level region, studded with glittering deposits of salt, where all the springs were more or less brackish. After sev- eral days of weary travel, they reached a place called "The Links" by the natives, where they found a num- ber of wells of fresh water. Here there was a settle- ment of Bushmen, of taller stature and darker color than those of the Kalihari Desert. One of these Bushmen, named Shobo, consented to be their guide over the unknown waste between those springs and the land of Shebituane, the Maka- lolo chief. Nevertheless, he informed them that they would not reach water again in less than a month. Yet by a species of Providence, in a very short time they came upon a number of pools of rain-water. " It is impossible," says Livingstone, " to convey an idea of the dreary scene on which we entered after leaving this spot. The only vegetation was a low scrub in deep sand ; not a bird or insect enlivened the land- scape. It was, without exception, the most uninviting prospect I ever beheld ; and; to make matters worse, our guide Shobo wandered on the second day. AVe coaxed him on at night, but he went to all points of the compass on the trails of elephants which had been here in the rainy season, and then would sit down in the path, and in his broken Sichuana say, 'No water, 58 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. all country only; Shobo sleeps; lie breaks down; country only;' and then coolly curl himself up and go to sleep. The oxen were terribly fatigued and thirsty; and on the morning of the fourth day, Shobo, after professing ignorance of everything, vanished alto- gether. We went on in the direction in which we last saw him, and about eleven o'clock began to see birds; then the trail of a rhinoceros. At this we unyoked the oxen, and they, apparently knowing the sign, rushed along to find the water in the River Mahabe, which comes from. the Tamunakle, and lay to the west of us. The supply of water in the wagons had been wasted by one of our servants, and by the afternoon only a small portion remained for the children. This was a bitterly anxious night ; and next morning the less there was of water, the more thirsty the little rogues became. The idea of their perishing before our e was terrible. It would almost have been a relief to me to have been reproached with being the entire cause of the catastrophe; but not one syllable of upbraiding was uttered by their mother, though the tearful eye told the agony within. In the afternoon of the fifth day, to our inexpressible relief, some of the men re- turned with a supply of that fluid of which we had never before felt the true value. "The cattle, in rushing along to the water in the Mahabe, probably crossed a small patch of trees con- taining tsetse, an insect which was shortly to become a perfect pest to us. Shobo had found his way to the j'aveiye, and appeared, when we came up to the river, at the head of a party ; and, as he wished to show his importance before Ids friends, he walked up boldly and JOURNEY TO THE ZAMBESI. 59 commanded our whole calvalcade to stop, and to bring forth fire and tobacco, while he coolly sat down and smoked his pipe. It was such an inimitably natural way of showing off, that we all stopped to* admire the acting, and, though he had left us previously in the lurch, we all liked Shobo, a fine specimen of that won- derful people, the Bushmen." The next day they came to the village of a new tribe, called the Banajoa, Their huts were built on poles, and fires were kindled under them during the night, to drive away the musquitos which abound in the country. But a more dangerous scourge was the tsetse, which now began to attack their cattle. It is thus described : " It is not much larger than the common house-fly, and is nearly of the same brown color as the common honey-bee ; the after part of the body has three or four yellow bars across it ; the wings project beyond this part considerably, and it is remarkably alert, avoiding most dextrously all attempts to capture it with the hand at common temperatures ; in the cool of the mornings and evenings it is less agile. Its pe- culiar buzz when once heard can never be forgotten bv the traveller whose means of locomotion are domestic animals ; for it is well known that the bite of this poi- sonous insect is certain death to the ox, horse, and dog. In this journey, though we were not aware of any great number having at any time lighted on our cattle, we lost forty-three fine oxen by its bite. We watched the animals carefully, and believe that not a score of flies were ever upon them. " A most remarkable feature in the bite of the tsetse Is its perfect harmlessness in man and wild animals, 60 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. and even calves, so long as they continue to suck tlie cows. We never experienced the slightest injury from them ourselves, personally, although we lived two months in their hahitat, which was in this ca^e sharply defined as in many others, for the south bank of the Ohobe was infested by them, and the northern bank, where our cattle were placed, only fifty yards distant, contained not a single specimen. This was the more remarkable, as we often saw natives carrying over raw meat to the opposite bank with many tsetse settled upon it. "The mule, ass, and goat enjoy the same immunity from the tsetse as man and the game. Many large tribes on the Zambesi can keep no domestic ani- mals except the goat, in consequence of the scourge existing in their country. Our children were fre- quently bitten, yet suffered no harm ; and we saw around us numbers of zebras, buffaloes, pigs, pallahs, and other antelopes, feeding quietly in the very habitat of the tsetse, yet as undisturbed by its bite as oxen are when they first receive the fatal poison. There is not so much difference in the natures of the horse and ze- bra, the buffalo and ox, the sheep and antelope. as afford any satisfactory explanation of the phenomenon. Is a man not as much a domestic animal as a «: The curious feature in the case, that dogs perish though fed on milk, whereas the calves escape so long as they continue sucking, made us imagine that the mischief might he produced by some plant in tin 1 locality, and not by tsetse J but Major Vnrdonj of the Madras Army, settled that point by riding a horse up to a imall hill infested by the insect without allowing him JOURNEY TO THE ZAMBESI. 61 * time to graze, and though he only remained long enough to take a view of the country, yet in ten days afterwards the horse was dead." Crossing a marshy country to the Chobe, a large branch of the Zambesi River, the travellers at last met the Makololo, by whom they were well received. The chief, Sebituane, w T as about twenty miles further down the river, and Livingstone and Oswell proceeded in canoes to his residence. He had come one hun- dred miles southward from his capital, to meet the first white men who had ever reached his country. " He was upon an island," says Livingstone, " with all his principal men around him, and engaged in singing when we arrived. It was more like church music than the sing-song e e e, se se se, of the Bechuanas of the south, and they continued the tune for some sec- onds after we approached. We informed him of the difficulties we had encountered, and how glad we were that they were all at an end by at last reaching his presence. He signified his own joy, and added, w Your cattle are all bitten by the tsetse, and will cer- tainly die; but never mind, I have oxen, and will give you as many as you need.' "We, in our ignor- ance, then thought that as so few tsetse had bitten tli em no great mischief would follow. He then pre- sented us with an ox and a jar of honey as food, and handed us over to the care of Mahale, who had headed the party to Kolobeng, and would now fain appropri ate to himself the whole credit of our coming. Pre- pared skins of oxen, as soft as cloth, were given to cover us through the night ; and, as nothing could be returned to this chief, Mahale became the owner of 62 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. them. Long before it was day Sebituane came, ami sitting down by the tire, which was lighted for out benefit behind the hedge where we lay, he narrated the difficulties he had himself experienced, when a young man, in crossing that same desert which we had mastered long afterward. As he has been most re- markable in his career, and was unquestionably tin; greatest man in all that country, a short sketch of his life may prove interesting to the reader. "Sebituane was about forty-five years of age ; of a tall and wiry form, an olive or cofFee-and-milk color, and slightly bald ; in manner cool and collected, and more frank in his answers than any other chief I ever met. He was the greatest warrior ever heard of be- yond the colony; for, unlike Mosilikatse, Dingaan, and others, he always led his men into battle himself. When he saw the enemy, he felt the edge of his battle-. axe, and said, ' Aha ! it is sharp, and whoever turns his back on the enemy will feel its edge.' So fleet of foot was he, that all his people knew there was no es- cape for the coward, as any such would be cut down without mercy. In some instances of skulking he al- lowed the individual to return home; then calling him, he w r ould say, * Ah! you prefer dying at home to dying in the field, do you? You shall have your desire.' This was the signal for his immediate execution." This famous chief came from a tribe much further to the south, and had conquered his kingdom by his own courage and energy. Thirty years before, he had fought the Griquas at Kuruman ; and many years of wandering, of fighting, of danger and poverty had in JOURNEY TO THE ZAMBESI. 03 tervened, before he established his sovereignty on the Zambesi. His wars with the chief Mosilikatse com- pletely broke up the hitter's power throughout the central region, and *hus opened the way to explorers He knew of the commerce carried on with white men on the eastern and western coasts of the continent, and appears to have made several attempts to establish in- tercourse with them, before sending the invitation to Livingstone. Unfortunately the end of his adventurous career was near at hand. " He was much pleased," says Liv- ingstone, " with the proof of confidence we had shown in bringing our children, and promised to take us to see his country, so that we might choose a part in which to locate ourselves. Our plan was, that I should remain in the pursuit of my objects as a missionary, while Mr. Oswell explored the Zambesi to the east. Poor Sebituane, however, just after realizing what he had so long ardently desired, fell sick of inflammation of the lungs, which originated in and extended from an old wound got at Melita. I saw his danger, but, being a stranger, I feared to treat him medically, lest, in the event of his death, I should be blamed by his people. I mentioned this to one of his doctors, who said, 'Your tear is prudent and w r ise; this people would blame you.'' He had been cured of this complaint, during the year before, by the Barotse making a large number of free incisions in the chest. The Makololo doctors, on the other hand, now scarcely cut the skin. On the Sunday afternoon in which he died, when our usual religious service was over, I visited him with my little boy Robert. ' Come near,' said Sebituane, i and see it GJ. TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. I am any longer a man. I am done.' He was thus sensible of the dangerous nature of his disease, so I ven- tured to assent, and added a single sentence regarding hope after death. ' Why do you speak of death ? ' said one of a relay of fresh doctors; * Sebituane will never die.' If I had persisted, the impression would have been produced that by speaking about it I wished him to die. After sitting with him some time, and com- mending him to the mercy of God, I rose to depart, when the dying chieftain, raising himself up a little from his prone position, called a servant, and said, * Take Robert to Manku (one of his wives), and tell her to give him some milk.' These were the last words of Sebituane. " "We were not informed of his death until the next day. The burial of a Bechuana chief takes place in his cattle-pen, and all the cattle are driven for an hour or two around and over the grave, so that it may be quite obliterated. We went and spoke to the people, advis- ing them to keep together and support the heir. They took this kindly ; *md in turn told us not to be alarmed, for they would not think of ascribing the death of their chief to us; that Sebituane had just gone the way of his fathers ; and though the father had gone, he had left children, and they hoped that we would be as friendly to his children as we intended to have beeH to himself. l * Ee was decidedly the best specimen of a native chief I ever met. I never felt so much grieved by the loss of a black man before ; and it was impossible not to follow him in thought into the world of which ho bad just heard before he was called away, and to JOURNEY TO THE ZAMBESI. 65 realize somewhat of the feelings of those who pray for the dead. The deep, dark question of what is to become of such as he, must, however, be left where we find it, believing that, assuredly, the ' Judge of all the earth will do right.' " At Sebituane's death the chieftainship devolved, as her father intended, on a daughter named Ma-moch- isane. He had promised to show us his country and to select a suitable locality for our residence. We had now to look to the daughter, who was living twelve days to the north, at Naliele. We were obliged, therefore, to remain until a message came from her ; and when it did, she gave us perfect liberty to visit any part of the country we chose. Mr. Oswell and I then proceeded one hundred and thirty miles to the north-east, to Sesheke ; and in the end of June, 1851, we were rewarded by the discovery of the Zambesi, in the centre of the continent. This was a most impor- tant point, for that river was not previously known to exist there at all. The Portuguese maps all represent it as rising far to the east of where we now were ; and if every anything like a chain of trading stations had existed across the country between the latitudes 12° and 18° south, this magnificent portion of the river must have been known before. We saw it at the end of the dry season, at the time when the river is about at its lowest, and yet there was a breadth of from three hun- dred to six hundred yards of deep flowing water. Mr. Oswell said he had never seen such a fine river, even in India. At the period of its annual inundation it rises fully twenty feet in perpendicular height, and floods fifteen or twenty miles of lands adjacent to its banks. 66 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. " The country over which we had travelled fron, the Chobe was perfectly flat, except where there werrj large ant-hills, or the remains of former ones, which had left mounds a few feet high. These are generallj covered with wild date-trees and palmyras, and in some parts there are forests of mimosae and mopane. Occa sionally the country between the Chobe and Zambesi is flooded, and there are large patches of swamps lying near the Chobe, or on its banks. The Makololo were living among these swamps for the sake of the pro- tection the deep reedy rivers afforded them against their enemies. " As we were the very first white men the inhabi- tants had ever seen, we were visited by prodigious numbers. Among the first who came to see us was a gentleman who appeared in a gaudy dressing-gown of printed calico. Many of the Makololo, besides, had garments of blue, green, and red baize, and also of printed cottons ; on inquiry, we learned that these had been purchased, in exchange for boys, from a tribe called Mambari, which is situated near Bihe." Livingstone gives no account of the return journey, and we only know that it was performed without ac- cident, though probably not without much privation. As there was then no hope of the Boers allowing the peaceable instruction of the natives at Kolobeng, he resolved to send his family to England, and to return alone to the Makololo country, with a view to explore it in search of a healthy district that might prove a fu- ture centre of civilization, and open up the interior by a path to either the east or west coast. This plan led him to the Cape in April, 1852, being the first time dur JOURNEY TO THE ZAMBESI, 67 ing eleven years that lie had visited civilization. " Our route to Capetown," he says, " led us to pass through the centre of the colony during the twentieth month of a Kaffer war ; and if those who periodically pay enormous sums for these inglorious affairs wish to know how our little unprotected party could quietly travel through the heart of the colony to the capital with as little sense or sign of danger as if we had been in Eng- land, they must engage a ' Times Special Correspond- ent' for the next outbreak to expiain where the money goes, and w r ho have been benefited by the blood and treasure expended. " Having placed my family on board a homeward- bound ship, and promised to rejoin them in two years, we parted, for, as it subsequently proved, nearly five years. The Directors of the London Missionary So- ciety signified their cordial approval of my project 4 >» leaving the matter entirely to my own discretion ; auc I have much pleasure in acknowledging my obliga- tions to the gentlemen composing that body for always acting in an enlightened spirit, and with ia much liber- ality as their constitution would allow." CHAPTER VL Anderson's jouuney to the ovampo land and lake ngami. BEFORE following Livingstone on his great jour ney of four years into and across South Africa from sea to sea, let us turn to other explorations of the regions below the parallel of Lake Ngami, which have almost completed our knowledge of the geography of that part of the continent. Some important informa- tion has also been contributed by Gordon Gumming, Baldwin, and other professional sportsmen ; but their object was game and not discovery, and the explora- tions they made were only incidental and fragmentary. Livingstone's visit to Lake Ngami, and his report of the immense herds of elephants on the Zouga River, created much excitement throughout the Cape Colony. Among others who determined to follow in his tracks was the Swedish naturalist Anderson, who had como to South Africa to prosecute his scientific studies. In company with an Englishman, named Galton, he fitted out a small expedition, intending to take the direct route to the lake, through the interior ; but the break- ing out of hostilities between the Boers and the native tribes compelled them to give up this plan. They returned to the coast and made their way to Whale Bay, a port in lat. 22° S., whence the actual distance to the lake was not greater than from Kuril- THE OVAMPO LAND AND LAKE NGAML 69 man, but the intervening territory was almost wholly unknown. The Namaqua Hottentots inhabit the territory bordering the ocean, and several German missionary stations — those of Rehoboth and New-Barmen being the chief — have been established among them, but without much effect upon the habits of the people. So long as the latter receive food and clothing from the missionaries, they gather about them and listen to their instruction ; but when the gifts cease, they turn their backs in indifference, or insult their benefactors. The success of the missions has further been somewhat jeopardized by the forays which the Namaquas have made, in late years, into the land of the Damaras, who inhabited the region to the north. These Dam- aras are a comparatively tine-looking race of men : they are nomads, and wander about with enormous herds of cattle, leaving the country bare behind them wherever they go. They appear to have come from the eastward, driving the aboriginal tribes, who wero probably Hottentots, into the mountains, where a small remnant of them still exists. . The Damaras are tall, strong and symmetrically formed. They are well armed with the assagay (a sort of lance), bow and arrow, and club ; but their inclina- tions are peaceful, and their faces have a gentle, expres- sion. They resemble the other native tribes in their scanty clothing, in the habit of smearing their bodies with fat, and in the fondness of the women for a bur- den of rings, plates and other metallic ornaments. The men wind their strips of leather, sometimes several hun- dred feet in length, around their loins, and carry their 70 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. clubs and pipes therein. They are so skilful in throw- ing the kerri, a stick with a knob on one end, that they will even brin^ down birds on the wins:. The missionaries, thus far, have accomplished very little towards civilizing the Dainaras. When they first settled themselves in the country, the latter quietly withdrew with their herds, and left the strangers to pro- cure their food as they best could. The idea of a pure human interest being incomprehensible to them, they suspected some hostile intention, and at first debated whether they should not exterminate them. In the course of time they became more friendly, but to this day a Darnara in good circumstances keeps aloof from the teaching of the missionaries ; while the poorer peo- ple, who support themselves chiefly by cultivating to- bacco, are learning to understand the advantage of set- tling in the neighborhood of the mission stations. When Anderson and Gal ton landed at Whale Bay, they had no definite plan of travel. After reaching Barmen, however, they heard of a great lake of fresh water, called " Omanbonde," lying some distance to the northward. The region was entirely unknown, and the Damaras who inhabited it were represented to them by the natives as fierce, unfriendly and treacherous. Nev- ertheless they undertook the journey, and after several weeks of slow progress, encountering the usual dangers, difficulties and delays, reached the famed lake, which the natives had described to them as being "as large as the sky." But their disappointment was great, at find- ing only a great reedy marsh, without any water! There were indications, it is true, that a lake of consid- erable extent had formerly existed there ; but in drying i'UE OVAMPO LAND AMD LAKE NGAMI. 71 it had banished the herds of elephants and other wild beasts which they had hoped to find. Having penetrated so far, however, the travellers determined to go on. They had heard of a people still further to the north, who had permanent habitations, who cultivated the soil, and were industrious, peaceful and hospitable. They were called the Ovampo (or Ovambo), which denoted agriculturists, and carried en a trade with the Damaras, giving them in exchange for cattle implements of iron. They were said to be very numerous, and to be governed by a king who was of gigantic stature. In regard to the distance of the country, and the character of the region to be trav ersed in order to reach it, the Damaras could only give very uncertain and fabulous accounts. Although it seemed probable that the journey would occupy sev eral months, Anderson decided to make the venture, and left the unfortunate Lake Omanbonde behind him. There was no longer any desert, at least; the road must be forced through high grass, thickets, and occa- sional forests. Water w r as found in abundance, and there was so much game that the party never lacked food. In a few days after leaving the lake, they were surprised to find groves of fan-palm covering the landscapes. They had barely reached the last settlement of the Damaras when the axle of their large wagon broke, md there were no means of mending it. Therefore ;hey determined to leave the vehicles, and push on by means of pack and saddle oxen. But the native chief not only refused to furnish them with a guide, he would give them n) information whatever, and all thej 72 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. could extort from him was the promise that they might join a caravan which was expected from the Ovarnpo land. Fortunately, this caravan soon arrived : it consisted of twenty-three tall, strong, very dark-col- ored men, of serious demeanor, and of a type very dif- ferent from that of the Damaras. They brought lance- heads, knives, rings, and beads of copper and iron — all their own workmanship — which they sold dearly enough ; as, for instance, a lance-head for an ox. The Ovampos agreed that the strangers might accompany them back to their country, and when the caravan was ready to start it numbered 170 persons, for many Damaras — among them seventy or eighty girls — decided to join it. The Oampos had collected a h'ne herd of cattle by their trading, and they declared that fourteen long days' journeys would bring them to their own country. The pleasant scenery soon disap- peared ; thorny thickets and dreary plains followed ; the watering-places were few and far apart, and the travellers now recognized how difficult it would have been to cross such a region without a skilful guide. Here, as elsewhere, they encountered parties of the wild Bushmen, and they noticed with pleasure that these outcasts, so despised by all other tribes, were kindly treated by the Ovampos. After a journey of eight days, the caravan reschod the first pasture-lands of the tribe, and there rested for a few days. The welcome of the country, which they received, consisted in having their faces thickly smeared with butter. Messengers were sent in advance to an nounce the coming of the strangers to the king, Nah- garo, and then the travel was resumed, — at first across THE OVAMPO LAND AND LAKE NGAMI. 73 great salt-pans, surrounded with a girdle of forests, and afterwards over boundless, grassy savannas. So m uch the more agreeable was the surprise of Anderson and Galton, when they saw before them the fertile, well cultivated fields of Ondonga, the central part of the Ovampo land. Instead of the never-ending thickets and sandy tracts, they beheld immense fields of grain, dotted over with peaceful dwellings, isolated forest o? fruit trees, and groves of palm. It seemed to them like a veritable paradise, and these attractive features multiplied as they advanced. There were no villages ; each family has its own patriarchal home, in the midst of the fields it cultivates. The houses are surrounded with strong palisades, for even these peaceable farmers have hostile neighbors, and are sometimes compelled to defend their posses- sions. Their grain is lentils and millet, which grow to the height of eight or nine feet. At harvest they sim- ply cut off the ripe heads, and then turn their cattle into the fields to devour the straw. They have exten- sive pasture-grounds at some distance from the culti- vated region, and are said to raise a breed of pigs of an enormous size. The travellers were unable to as- certain the exact extent of the country, or the number of the inhabitants. On the second day they reached the residence of the terrible Nangaro, but without being admitted : a group of trees, near at hand, was pointed out to them as the place where they should wait. This is the cus- tom of African as of European courts, and in their case it lasted three days. Finally, they were taken be- fore his Majesty, whom they found to be a giant, truly, 74 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. but only in a horizontal direction. He was an exceed- ingly thick, ugly man, yet every inch a king in the eyes of his subjects, with whom corpulency was a ro} y al attribute, and all the more to be admired, since it would have been unpardonable in themselves. The only answer which the stout king made to the brilliant address of the travellers was, that he now and theu gave a grunt of assent or dissent, as the case might be. Neither the king nor his people had a correct knowledge of fire-arms. They imagined that if one should blow into the barrel, the weapon could do no harm. The effect of a rifle, loaded with conical ball, so startled them that many fell flat upon their faces at each shot. The king presently demanded that they should shoot for him one of the elephants which occa- sionally devastated his fields. Anderson refused, from the suspicion that the king would not only keep the ivory for himself, but possibly retain them in the coun- try as long as there were any elephants to shoot. Nev- ertheless, they were very kindly and hospitably treated. The king furnished them with food, and a kind of beer, and every evening there was a native ball, where the young people danced to the sound of tom-toms and a sort of guitar. The girls, when young, have coarse but not disagreeable features, but afterwards become heavy and muscular, partly from carrying so many heavy metal nngs on their arms and legs, and partly, in consequence of their unremitting labor. Both sexes work in the fields from sunrise until sunset. The women increase the circumference of their woolly locks by stiffening them with a mixture of fat and red ochre, with which they also plaster their bodies. THE OVA MP LAND AND LAKE NGAML. 75 The principal f x>d of the Ovampo is a kind of coarse meal porridge, which is always served hot, with butter or sour milk. Although they are also very fond of a flesh diet, and their herds are large, yet they slaughter cattle but sparingly, and appear to keep their herds rather for pleasure than use or profit. Inside of their stockades they have a number of detached build- ings, — dwellings for owners and servants, stables, gran- aries, and pens for pigs and fowls. The houses are tent-shaped, circular, and not more than six feet in height ; the granaries are huge baskets of woven palm- leaves, each sheltered by a conical roof. A good characteristic of the Ovampo, which dis- tinguishes them above all other African tribes, is, that they not only do not steal, but they consider theft a crime worthy of being punished by death. While the travellers with all their watchfulness could not prevent the Damaras from plundering them, here they could leave their possessions unguarded, knowing that not the slightest article would be taken. The king has the sole power of punishment, and order is preserved throughout the land by persons whom he appoints, and who report to him all crimes and disputes. Moreover, the Ovampo take excellent care of all sick, crippled or superannuated persons, instead of driving them into the jungle to perish, like the Damaras. They are passionately attached to their country, and are very proud of its advantages. It is an offence to them when a stranger inquires the number of their chiefs, and they answer : u We acknowledge but one king among the Damaras each one thinks he is a chief, as soon as he owns a few cows." Fugitives from 76 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. other tribes are accepted, and allowed to marry among them, but afterwards they are compelled to remain in the land. Polygamy prevails among them, as else- where in South Africa : each man is allowed to take as many wives as he is able to buy. One of small means can get a wife for two oxen and a cow, while those who are wealthier must pay a higher price. The king, alone, is not obliged to buy his wives, the honor of being connected with him being considered a full equivalent. The stout Nangaro had already collected 106 spouses from the various quarters of his realm. After the travellers had spent several weeks in the Ovampo land, they prepared to continue their journey. They were told that only four days to the north there was a large beautiful river, with inhabited shores. [This was certainly the Kunene, a river which has since been partly explored. It flows into the sea near Great Fish Bay, on the southern border of Ben- guela.] But the king positively refused to permit them to visit it, saying that they had refused to shoot an elephant for him, and therefore he would not favor their plans. They then decided to return southward, and with all the more speed, since they were uncertain how the wagons and cattle they had left behind had fared among the Damaras. The journey to the mis- sion-station at Barmen occupied six weeks, and was accompanied with many privations, since it was winter, the nights were cold, water and pasture dried up, and game very scarce. Anderson now returned to his original design of reaching Lake Ngaini. Still accompanied by Gal ton, lie set out, and after encountering many difficulties and THE OVA MFC LAND AND LAxxi^ AuWitf/. 77 embarrassments, at the end of five months reached a point called Tunobis, about two hundred miles from the lake. This is a watering-place surrounded with forests, where a few Bushmen hide, and where great quan- tities of elephants and other beasts collect. It was a pleasant spot in the wilderness ; but the party had suf- fered intensely from heat and thirst, and the fatigues of the journey ; the oxen were worn to skeletons, and the Bushmen assured Anderson that a thorny desert lay before him where no water could be found for sev- eral days. So much time had been lost in forcing their way to this point, that the prospect ahead decided them to turn about and retrace their weary steps. Mr. Galton was by this time quite satisfied with African exploration, and, on reaching Whale Bay, took passage for England. Anderson remained to make another attempt, after the rainy season was over ; and, in order to supply himself with materials for bar- ter with the natives, bought a herd of cattle and drove them down the coast to Capetown. The speculation was tolerably successful: he procured the necessary supplies, sailed to Whale Bay, organized his caravan, and struck into the desert. By the time he reached Tunobis, his turning-point the former year, his party was in a very dilapidated condition. The men had suffered greatly from hun- ger, on account of the unexpected scarcity of game, and it now seemed as hazardous to return as to go on- wards. The natives declared that the direct way to the lake was through a desolate, waterless wilderness, and quite impassable ; but that if he would travel a few days to the eastward, following a dry river-bed 78 TRAVELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. called Otjambinde, and then turn to the left, he might succeed. It was only by making the greatest exertions that Anderson could induce both men and beasts to go farther. The latter were as obstinate as the former ; he was obliged to take both in hand, drill them anew and compel them to his authority. Setting out about the middle of June, they followed the empty river-bed, plodding over wastes of glaring white sand. Here and there, however, they found grass and luxuriant vegetation, and little slimy pools of rain-water, some- times swarming with reptiles, or turned into liquid mud by the feet of elephants. They found, also, a number of ancient and skilfully-constructed wells, some of which were damp at the bottom, and, by thrusting a reed into the soil, in the manner of bush- men, they could suck up moisture enough to allay their thirst. These wells indicated that the now des- olate region had been formerly inhabited by a race civilized enough to secure themselves a constant sup- ply of water. After several days of this travel, it was time to leave the old river-bed and strike out northward on the dry and stony plains. Anderson had already sent out messengers in advance, to announce his coming to the chief, Lechulatebe, whom Livingstone had found on the borders of Lake Ngami. A few days after- wards, in the desert, a troop of Bechuanas suddenly appeared ; it was the escort which the chief had sent to meet them. The stately appearance of the men, with their shields and assagays, made a favorable im- pression upon Anderson, who found that they resem- THE OVAMPO LAND AND LAKE NGAML. 79 bled the Damaras. The two tribes, in fact, were not strangers; for the Damaras had formerly penetrated as fai as the lake, and had often come into collision with the Bechuanas. With these new guides, the caravan toiled forwards, making directly for the lake, through deep sands; and thickets of the thorny acacia, with here and there a giant tree. In spite of the wild and wooded character of the region, there were rich pastures, and old wells gave evidence that it had once had permanent inhabitants. Yet a few days more, and the cry " Egami ! " was heard at the head of the caravan. Anderson had at last reached the goal of so much toil and privation : a beautiful, ap- parently boundless, expanse of water spread out before him. Although sick, and almost a cripple from his encounters with rhinoceros and elephant, he forgot all his sufferings at this view. But as he drew near, and their route skirted the shores, the reality proved to be less pleasant. The water was bitter and disagreeable, and could only be reached at a few points, the mud and reeds elsewhere barring all approach to it. The chief, whose residence was at that time on the banks of the Zuoga, refused, at h'rst, to allow Anderson to pass through his land. After a few days, however, he suddenly furnished canoes and boatmen for a voy- age on the lake. He was so unexpectedly willing that Anderson immediately suspected some covert design, and the result proved that he was right. The boatmen were quite skilful in the use of poles and oars, but did not venture far from the shore, and it was two days before they reached the mouth of the Tioge Eiver, at the northern extremity of the lake. 80 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. The animal life around Lake Ngami is wonderfully rich and varied. The elephant, rhinoceros, hippopota- mus, buffalo and giraffe have their settlements, with many kinds of antelopes, of which Anderson shot so many that his native envoy was soon increased by vol- unteers to the number of sixty or seventy. The water swarmed with crocodiles, some of which were of enor- mous size. The first part of the voyage up the Tioge was very monotonous. The river had overflowed its banks in many places, and nothing was to be seen but wide marshes, out of which rose groups of palm-trees. On the fourth day, the landscape changed ; the river- banks were higher, and covered with the richest growth of trees — palms, mimosas, sycamores, and many entirely new varieties, some of which bore delicious fruits. The scenery was so charming that Anderson would have willingly lingered there for days, but he well knew the danger of breathing that fever-laden atmosphere, and hastened onward. After a voyage of twelve days he reached a large village, the residence of the principal chief of the Bay- eiye tribe, which is subject to the chief Lechulatebe, on Lnke Ngami. It was a most picturesque spot : on an island in the river, more than a hundred houses were grouped in the shade of large fan-palms, while on either side the water spread out like a lake. Here, however, the natives who accompanied him declared that their chief had given orders that he should have no further boats or guides. It was not until he declared that he was ready to return, that they assisted him in any fray. His object had been to follow the river to a plac( called Libebe, the capital of an agricultural tribe called THE OVAMPO LAND AND LAKE NGAML. 81 Bavicko, of which he had heard many interesting reports. In his annoyance at the disappointment, Anderson supposed that the raft which was given to him for his return down the Tioge, instead of the boats, was in- tended as an insult. But he soon found that it was an agreeable mode of transportation. The rafts are made of palm-leaves, or reeds, laid crosswise, and not even bound together ; the traveller's weight prevents them from separating. The descent of the river occupied nine days, and after an absence of four weeks Anderson returned to his encampment beside the lake, where he found everything in good order, except that his people complained "bitterly of the thievishnessof the Bechuanas and the meddlesomeness of the chief. In order to convey to Capetown his collection of objects of natural history, and the ivory which he had procured by barter and the chase, it was necessary to have a wagon. Anderson thereupon travelled across the wilderness to the Namaqua land, and returned to the lake, in the space of four months. He travelled on fuot, on horse-back or ox-back, sometimes entirely alone, sometimes with a single companion. Hunger and thirst were more dangerous enemies to him than the lion or the hyena. On one occasion he was without food for two days, and could only drink once in twenty-four hours. His indomitable energy and great powers of endurance enabled him to overcome all impediments, and successfully bring back his spoils. CHAPTER YII Anderson's journey to the okavango river. IN 1856, three or four years after Anderson's at- tempt to reach the town called Libebe, on the Tioge River, the journey was successfully made by Mr. Green, the celebrated elephant-hunter. He over- came many difficulties in penetrating to that point, and was not able to remain long enough to make any important observations. His account of the beauty of the scenery and the luxuriance of the vegetation along the Tioge corresponds with that given by Anderson. The reports of the Kunene River, brought back from the Ovampo land, had in the meantime led to several unsuccessful attempts to reach it. The Portu- guese in Benguela, recognizing the value of this river to their inland trade, if it should prove to be naviga- ble, sent vessels along the coast, which failed to dis- cover its mouth ; but an expedition by land finally suc- ceeded. The region where the river reaches the sea proved to be a sandy desert, and the mouth is cut off from navigation by a long sand-bank. Advancing in- land, the Portuguese found that the stream was narrow and broken by cataracts, whereupon they gave up all further exploration. In May, 1857, the German missionaries, Halm and Rath set out from New-Barwen. well provided with wagons, oxen and sheep, with the intention of passing THE OKA VANGO RIVER. 83 through the Ovampo land to the Kunene. In ten Jays they reached a vast shallow plain, with no distinct water-courses. It seemed to be a basin where the rains collected, without any channel cf discharge. The soil was covered with high grass, out of which rose the black trunks of mimosa trees. It was a mel- ancholy region, where the only paths were those made by elephants, and where the ant-hills were frequently 40 feet in diameter and 15 in height. The former population had been almost entirely exterminated by the forays of the Demaras, and only a few were found, living in hidden nooks, and reduced almost to the con- dition of Bushmen. After passing lat. 20°, early in June, the travellers found the fan-palm, at first as a bush, but soon as a splendid tree, 50 feet high. Near a river called Omur- amba they found herds of elephants, and here fell in with Mr. Green, who joined their party. The jour- ney beyond was rendered difficult by the increasing density of the forests, through which they were often obliged to hew a way for the wagons. The line of their course led to the eastward of the Ovampo coun- try, but early in July their negro guides represented that a waterless desert was before them, and it would be impossible to reach the Kunene without turning westward. Ten days after changing their direction, they came suddenly upon a beautiful lake, nearly thir- ty miles in circumference, called by the natives Onan- dova. Here they met with many of the Ovampo, who were returning from a neighboring mountain- range, laden with copper ore which they had mined there. 84 TRA VE1 S IN SOUTH AFRICA. The missionaries had sent messengers to the king Nangaro, at Odongo, to announce their approach ; but they now learned that the men had been guided, instead, to the king's younger brother, Chipanga, who had risen in rebellion against him, and established an independent sovereignty of his own. This was an unfortunate mistake, and led them to expect an un- friendly reception from Nangaro. On the 22d of July they issued from the jungles, and saw before them the broad plain of Odongo, which seems to have made a very different impression on them from that recorded by Anderson and Galton. " We saw," they write, " some heaps of black twigs and reeds, perhaps four feet high, and some high poles planted in the soil, the use of which we could not discover. We asked for houses, and they pointed to the heaps of reeds : we then approached and ex- amined them. The stakes and twigs are stuck in the earth, so as to form a multitude of passages and compartments for various purposes, — stalls for sheep, goats, cattle, granaries, which are only large baskets, and finally the dwellings. The latter have walls two feet high, a door eighteen inches square, a diameter of five feet, and a height, in the middle, of six feet. The entire establishment is about 120 feet in circumference. These residences are scattered over the whole country, near each other, ai.d each surrounded by its own fields" Their intercourse with king Nangaro was equally unfortunate. After they had refused to accompany and assist him in one of his forays for plunder, he forbade them to pass further through his territory. THE OKA VANGO RIVER. 85 At the end of a week they decided to return, but had hardly started on their way, when a loud war-cry was raised in the king's hut, and immediately echoed from all the huts scattered over the plain. In a short time the little party, only 30 in number, was surrounded and attacked by 800 Ovampo warriors. The former were, fortunately, well-armed, and defended themselves so desperately, that after a light of several hours the natives retreated. The travellers now pushed rapidly forward, avoiding the inhabited portions of the coun- try, without guides, in a waterless wilderness, for three days, when they reached a well, and could rest without fear of a new attack. Beyond this point they ventured to resume the regular route, and on the 11th of September arrived safely at JSTew-Barwen. They afterwards learned that King Nangaro's hos- tility to them had proved fatal to himself. The vigor- ous defence which the party made, and the terror and loss occasioned to his people by fire-arms, enraged him to such a degree that he was stricken with apoplexy, and died almost immediately, his great corpulence hastening the catastrophe. The following spring, 1858, Anderson, who had returned to South Africa, fitted out a new expedition, in order to make a more thorough exploration of the country north of the Damara land. He furnished all his own wagons and supplies, depending on a good harvest of ivory for payment of his losses by the way. He had two servants, a Portuguese named Mortar, and Pereira, a half-breed from Malabar, both faithful and fearless men, and eight natives. He took seventy sheep and goats for provision, extra oxen, a horse and 86 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. four asses for riding, and a pack of dogs for hunting. His main hope was to reach the Kunene River, and explore, if possible, its whole course. He set out in a northerly direction, but in a line which would have taken him to the westward of the Ovampo country. After crossing the Omarurn River, which flows into Whale Bay, he entered a plain covered with those thorny thickets which are the curse of a great part of South Africa. It was a terrible labor tc break a way for the wagons. In order to give some idea of the toil and patience which the explorer must exercise, Anderson calculated that, for every 900 feet of distance, 170 bushes must be cut away, each bush having four tough stems, varying in thickness from the size of a man's linger to that of his leg. On an aver- age, each bush required twelve strokes of the axe, making nearly 10,000 strokes to the mile ; and when we reflect that this labor must be carried on for a dis- tance of 120 miles, we can then first fully comprehend its magnitude. After twenty-three days Anderson's patience was rewarded by seeing the last of the thorns (the acacia detinens /) behind him, and before him a forest of lofty trees, clear of undergrowth. Beyond this there were thorns again, but in narrower belts ; and the way was made difficult by gulleys, deep lateral valleys, and dry water-courses, which always ran east and west, there- fore at right angles to their course. Yet a few days, and he came upon a magnificent limestone wall, like that of a gia&t fortress, with bastions, ramparts and towerj, twelve miles in length. At its base there wftfl a little stream, nearly dry, but still nourishing a rich THE OKA VANGO RIVER. 87 vegetation. In the distance a chain of mountains, 2000 feet in height, rose above the plains. At a place called Otjidambi, where there were five springs, Anderson found the first sign of human life : there were evidences that a large number of natives had recently been there. The country is a table-land, from two to four thousand feet above the sea-level, bounded on the west by a range of granite mountains near the coast, about 500 miles in length, and running nearly due north and south. The table-land is crossed, at right angles to this chain, by hills of sandstone or limestone, while now and then an isolated granite peak, from one to three thousand feet in height, crops out. The face of the country is partly bare and stony, partly covered with thickets of the thorny mimosa. The val- leys which lie below the general level have running streams during the rainy season, but during the dry months these shrink into pools or marshy spots, where water may be found by digging. In some of these valleys, the Damaras had settled w T ith their herds, and lived quietly until their retreats were discovered by the Namaquas, who made an in- cursion into the country, the year before Anderson's journey, and, in spite of the gallant resistance of the Damaras, carried off many of their cattle. Anderson's caravan, therefore, was looked upon with suspicion, and the natives hid themselves at his approach. As he was suffering for want of water, he made a hunt for men instead of elephants, and succeeded in capturing a man and his wife. The terrified creatures received presents, instead of the death they expected ; they guided the caravan to the nearest spring, and then, still mistrust- 88 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. fnl of the character of the strangers, made their escape by night. Nevertheless, the hidden natives were enticed, by the presents which the two had received, to come forth, and some of them willingly offered their services as guides. With their aid, the journey was continued, in a series of zigzags to the right and left, for between three and four hundred miles. This distance, in a straight line, would have taken Anderson beyond the Kunene River ; but it was not yet reached. Meanwhile, his condition was becoming hazardous : for two days no water had been found, and the guides declared that they had lost the way to the next spring. Men were sent out in all directions to look for signs of water, but, as the night came on, one after another returned, without having been successful. Two men still re- mained absent, but their absence was not an encourag- ing sign, and Anderson was obliged, without much time for reflection, to retrace his steps. Now, however, a new and unexpected danger threatened the caravan. The Damara herdsmen are accustomed to set fire to the dry grass, in order to hasten the growth of a fresh pasturage for their cattle. Anderson had frequently seen these fires in the dis- tance, without paying any particular attention to them ; but now, on the return, almost perishing from thirst, he suddenly saw the lines of flame approaching in front, and still closing in as they came, until the whole eonntry became like a sea of fire. There was no es- cape; but he discovered a kind of channel where the grass was thin, and the oxen made their way through covered with showers of sparks, and scorched by tli«» THE OKAVANGi* RIVER. 89 falling branches of burning trees. When, finally, at midnight, he reached a place where water could be obtained by digging, all the cattle, which had not had a drop for six days, broke loose and dashed away, fol- lowing their certain instinct, to the nearest Damara camping-place. While Anderson and his men were resting here, the two missing natives arrived, having actually found water after long search. But the whole party had suffered too much, and escaped too many dangers, to think of turning about again. They made their way slowly back towards the nearest mission-station, and Anderson sent Pereira with the broken wagon, to have it repaired and then rejoin him further to the eastward. Meantime, he devoted himself to elephant-hunting, to replenish his diminishing resources. While thus engaged he met a caravan of 400 Damaras, on their way to the Ovampo land. Many of them were women-porters carrying loads of beads and shells, to be bartered for articles of copper and iron. Anderson, however, suspected that trade was not the only object of the caravan. He noticed among the people several subjects of the Na- waque robber-chief, Yonker Africaner, and rightly guessed that they meant to spy out the land and report to their master the probable success of a plundering expedition. At the end of August, Pereira arrived with the wagon, and Anderson set out for the lake Omanbonde, which had so disappointed him and Galton whei they discovered it in 1850. Now, however, instead of a mere swamp, he found a fine sheet of water four or five miles in circumference, with another of the samje size 90 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. near it. The shores of both swarmed with wild ani- mals; the elephants came in herds of a hundred, and he was able to kill a great many of the old male ani- mals, which furnished the most ivory. Anderson describes those nightly watches, hidden behind a high ant-hill, or in a dense thicket, awaiting the coming of the unsuspecting beasts in the full light of the moon, and sometimes witnessing their com- bats or amorous sports, as the highest delight which a true hunter can anywhere enjoy. He was sometimes obliged to bring into play all his courage and self-pos- session, wdien, after a close shot, the wounded animal turned upon him, or the whole herd put themselves in battle array. There were also lions, rhinocerosses, zebras, gnus and antelopes, so that his table was always w r ell supplied. He asserts that lion-steaks are very good and nutritious, the taste being very much like that of veal. He writes, in his journal : " During my wander- ings in South Africa, I have learned every variety of hunting, whether by night, on the borders of a lake or a salt-lick, or by day, on foot or horseback, — and I must affirm that an ambush by moonlight, near a pool fre- quented by herds of wild beasts, far surpasses all else. In the first place, there is something mysterious and exciting in the knowledge that one is the hidden, un- suspected witness of the movements, habits, and in- stincts of the members of a great natural menagerie — a menagerie wherein over-feeding, the iron bars of ca and the brutal energy of the keepers has not tamed the fierceness of animal life, or blunted their clastic strength, their abandonment to passion and play. THE OKA VAN GO RIVER. 91 And then the intense interest with which the arrival of every new animal is awaited ! The distant footstep, which is always distinctly heard on the stony soil, then the strain of the ear when the beast crosses a softer strip of soil, the effort to determine whether it is an an- telope or an elephant, a wild bear or a rhinoceros, a gnu or a giraffe, a jackal or a lion ! Moreover, there are con- stant opportunities for observing the habits and pecu- liarities of all, to an extent which would be impossible by daylight. I do not exaggerate when I say that I have learned more from the tableau vivant of a single night, than from months of observation in the sunshine." In a short time so much ivory had been collected that Pereira was sent back to the mission with a large wagon-load, and meanwhile Anderson made an excur- sion to the most eastern point which he had reached in the expedition of 1850, with Galton. When he had returned to the lake, and was awaiting his attendant's return, the Damara caravan arrived. When they reached the borders of the Ovampo country, the inhab- itants of the first village refused to allow them to pro- ceed further, until the present chief, Chipanga, should send a special permission. The Damaras therefore halted, and sent messengers forward ; but they soon returned with the news that, under no circumstances, could the caravan be allowed to enter the country. At the same time the Ovampo had inquired what An- derson's plans were, declaring that they were disgusted with the conduct of the white men, in using weapons different from their own. Their defeat by Green and the missionaries seemed to rankle very deeply in their minds. 92 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. The return of the Damara caravan, nevertheless, enabled Anderson to procure one of the chiefs as a guide. Pereira returned from the mission with new supplies, and on the 5th of January, 1859, the party set out in search of the Ovampo River. When the missionaries, Halm and Rath, iirst discovered this stream, it contained a considerable amount of water, and from the direction in which it flowed, they felt sure that it was a branch of the Kunene. There had been frequent rains, and Anderson kept watch, day after day, for the waters of the river. But the sky now re- mained clear, and evaporation w r ent on so rapidly that pools, several feet deep, became dry ground in a week. After eleven days' travel, they came upon something like a river-bed, stretching to the northward, but with- out any running water. They used this as a road, and pushed onward, still hoping to reach the Ovampo, never suspecting that they were actually travelling in its bed. After a time its direction changed, and they then took to the northern bank. At the end of two days more, the calcareous soil changed to dry sand, the thorny jungles w r ere again encountered, and a new plague came upon them in the shape of a fierce horse- fly, which drew blood at every bite. This does not appear to have been the tsetse, since the oxen did not die, but the hides of the poor beasts were encrusted with blood. Having at last reached a spot which swarmed w T ith game, especially elephants, Anderson made a halt of several days, to rest the cattle and supply his caravan with food. The flesh of the elephants was cut into strips and dried in the sun ; a heavy rain fell, and then, THE OKA VANGO RIVER. 93 provided with food and water for a short time, they pressed forwards. Their progress through the thorns, up and down the steep ridges, was only a few miles a day, and Anderson at last determined to choose one of the most promising of the dry water-courses and follow it to the westward. This soon brought them upon the dry, waste table-land they had traversed the year before. Here, however, they fell in with a Bushman chief, who had accompanied the German missionaries in their journey, and who eagerly offered to guide them, on the condition that he should have an entire elephant as pay. His name was Kaganda : he proved to be an active, intelligent fellow, who not only knew every little pool or marshy spot in the whole country, but imparted a secret which was of great service. He showed them that a large tree, with willow-like leaves, was generally hollow, and formed a natural cistern, wherein rain-water was preserved for a long time. They tried the experi- ment, and found good supplies of water, which was still tolerably fresh. Kaganda conducted the caravan through a region which swarmed with elephants, until finally, the land- marks were unknown to him, and he confessed that he could act as guide no longer. Anderson, as in the for- mer journey, sent out and captured a native and his wife, and learned from them that the river he hoped to reach was only distant a journey of two and a half days. He thereupon left his wagons and heavy baggage near a water-pool, took half of his men with him, and set out. It was still uncertain what the Bushmen meant by " a river." He hoped it might be the Kunene, yet it was possibly merely a dry water-course, where the 94 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. stream had shrunk to detached pools. On the second day, in fact, he reached such a dry bed, or valley, running from south to north, with the usual muddy pools, but, in addition to them, fresh springs and wells, — a refreshment he had long missed. Following this channel until noon the next day, the Bushman guides began to prepare themselves for a meeting with the in- habitants of the region watered by the promised river, by hiding their best arrows in the trees. They declared that the people they were approaching were a race of scamps, who would attempt to plunder them of all they owned. Anderson rode on in a state of great excitement and expectation, his eyes turned to the north. Finally, he perceived a mountain-chain, along the horizon, run- ning east and west, and soon afterwards found himself on the bank of a river, 600 hundred feet in breadth. It did not seem to be any of the streams of which he had previously heard. The Ovampo had spoken to him of a large river which flowed westward towards the ocean ; but this, upon whose banks he stood, flowed distinctly eastward, into the heart of the continent. He was, therefore, inclined to look upon it as a great affluent of the Zambesi. The natives called the river the OJca- vango. Anderson guessed that the point he reached w r as somewhere between 17° and 18° S. Lat. and 17° and 19° E. from Greenwich. It is rather difficult to understand that a considerable branch of the Zambesi should be met with here : the absence of an exact ob- servation leaves the question still undecided. In spite of its eastern course the river may have been the Kunene. On the right bank, upon which he found himself, 1SK1I0LD! A WHITE MAN." THE OKA VANGO RIVER. 95 there were no settlements of the Okavangari, as the tribe is called. They saw some habitations on the op- posite bank, and it required a 'calling back and forth, a negotiation which lasted more than two hours, before the suspicious natives consented to bring their boats. They finally came armed, but were gradually persuaded that the strangers were peaceful. In order to avoid any difficulties in his further ex- ploration of the river, Anderson sent a messenger to the principal chief of the tribe, Chikongo, and begged that he might be received as a friend. The village where the chief resided lay further to the south, and the messenger soon returned with an invitation from Chikongo that Anderson should visit him, with assur- ances of his friendship. In the meantime the traveller had been well entertained, the natives having furnished him with meal and fruit, and also a cow. He waited in vain, however, for the arrival of a boat, and could only, at last, obtain with great difficulty a miserable canoe and a single guide. He soon perceived that the power of a chief over his subjects was by no means ab- solute, each of them acting much as he pleased. The native who had taken him in his frail canoe, seemed to consider the voyage in the light of his own amuse- ment and vanity ; for, instead of keeping in the swifter current, he floated slowly along the banks, and stopped at every hut in order to show the people the strange white man. Anderson began to look upon himself as a curious animal ; but these incidents at least enabled him to observe the natives very thoroughly. He found the men nearly all strong and well-built, while each woman seemed to him uglier than the others. 96 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA, The river and the landscapes on either side were delightful. Here and there the current was inter- rupted by islands, on which crocodiles were sunning themselves ; hippopotamus and water-fowl were also 6een. Among the latter Anderson noticed a new va- riety of wild-goose, four feet high. The river-bottoms were covered with fields of grain, and fruit-trees, and ranges of wooded mountains on either hand enclosed the landscapes. At noon on the second day of the voyage he reached the residence of the chief, Chikongo. The houses of the village had precisely the appearance of bee-hives, and stood close together : around all there was a strong stockade, as a defence against enemies. The chief was as naked and as thickly plastered with grease and ochre as any of his subjects ; he only wore a few more beads and rings, and carried two or three daggers of native make in his girdle. One of the na- tives, who understood the Bechuana language, which Anderson also spoke, interpreted a hearty welcome to the latter. The chief excused himself for entertaining the stranger in such a rude manner, " like a Bush- man," on the ground that the Makololo (Livingstone's friends, on the Zambesi) had, a short time before, car- ried away the most of his cattle. Anderson further learned that the negro traders from Benguela visit this region, and exchange beads, powder, guns and brandy, for ivory and slaves. In the mountains to the northward there are rich mines of ir<»n and copper, and the natives are skilled in smelting the ores and manufacturing the metals into various articles, partly for their own use, and partly THE OKA VANGO RIVER. 97 for barter. They stated that the Ovampo land lay to the west of them, and the tribe of Bavickos to the east, whose capital was the town of Libebe, which Anderson had tried to reach on the Tioge River. To the south, they said, there was nothing but deserts. After a stay of three days in Chikongo's village, Anderson returned to the spot where he had left his wagons, and brought the whole caravan safely to the Okavango River. All aspects now seemed favorable, and he projected plans for the exploration of the river, which w r ere suddenly frustrated by the appearance of another deadly enemy of the African traveller — fever. It was the dry season, and the exhalations from the pools and marshes make the air pestilential. Scarcely had the party reached the river-bank, when Anderson and five or six others were prostrated. For a whole month he waited from day to day, hoping to grow better, but at last was compelled to turn back, as the only means of saving his life. He returned upon his old trail, difficult and dan- gerous as he had found it. This time, also, the plains of dry grass were on fire in various places. It almost appeared as if the Bushmen had intended to check the march of the weakened caravan, and finally obtain through fire or starvation the plunder which they were too cowardly to fight for. Once, indeed, the dan- ger was so near that only a sudden change of the wind saved the whole party from death. About this time, Mr. Green, who was at the mission- station, learned that the Ovampo chief, Chipango, had sent out a body of his people to intercept Anderson's 'return, and cut him off. He hastily gathered together 1 98 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. a small body of men, and pressed forward to meet and assist his friend. The latter, however, had kept such a strict guard that the natives found no opportunity of taking him by surprise, and they did not dare to ven- ture an open attack. Green and Anderson met at the Ovampo River, and all danger was over. But Anderson was in a state of great exhaustion, from the fever which still clung to him, and the privations and anxieties of the return march. This was his last journey. In the winter of 1860, Green, accompanied by his brother, also reached the Okavango River. His main object was elephant-hunting, and he killed 42 animals in three months. He found the native tribe on the river to be peaceable, timid people, with whom he had no difficulties. They were then suffering from the raids of the Namaqua chief, Yonker Africaner, who had taken possession of the Ovampo country, and was sending out plundering expeditions in all directions. Green relates that he could easily have reached the Kunene River. The chief Chikongo offered him guides thither ; but it was now the hot and unhealthy season, and he feared that Anderson's experience might become his own. Many geographical details of the region lying between the central Zambesi valley and the Atlantic Ocean still remain to be cleared up ; yet so much has been achieved by Anderson, Green, and Mag yar, that all its most important features are now knowu. CHAPTER VIII. I. — TO THE MAKOLOLO COUNTRY. LIVINGSTONE'S plan, after having sent his wife and children to England, was to return alone to the Makololo country, on the Zambesi River, and con- tinue his explorations until he should discover a healthy- region wherein to establish a new missionary station, with which communication might be kept up, either with the Cape, or the eastern or western coast. The opening of trade with the natives was, of course, an in- cidental advantage, and thus the selection of a practi- cal route was included in his design. He was heartily supported by the London Missionary Society in his undertaking, and set out from Capetown in June, 1852, tolerably well provided for the journey, the extent and importance of which he was far from anticipating at the time. The travel through the colony and the Griqua country, made in wagons drawn by oxen, was neces- sarily slow. Livingstone was obliged to remain some time at Kuruman, on account of the raid which the Boers of the Transvaal Republic had made upon Kolo- beng and the Bechuanas, and the consequent insecur- ity of the country. He gives the following interesting account of the native language : 100 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. " During the period of my visit at Kuruman, Mr Moffat, who has been a missionary in Africa during upward of forty years, and is well known by his inter- esting work, * Scenes and Labors in South Africa,' was busily engaged in carrying through the press, with which his station is furnished, the Bible in the lan- guage of the Bechuanas, which is called Sichuana. This has been a w r ork of immense labor; and as he was the first to reduce their speech to a written form, and has had his attention directed to the study for at least thirty years, he may be supposed to be better adapted for the task than any man living. Some idea of the copiousness of the language may be formed from the fact that even he never spends a week at his work without discovering new words ; the phenomenon, therefore, of any man who, after a few months' or years' study of a native tongue, cackles forth a torrent of vocables, may well be wondered at, if it is meant to convey instruction. In my own case, though I have had as much intercourse with the purest idiom as most Englishmen, and have studied the language carefully, yet I can never utter an important statement without doing so very slowly, and repeating it too, lest the for- eign accent, which is distinctly perceptible in all Euro- peans, should render the sense unintelligible. In this I follow the example of the Bechuana orators, who, on im- portant matters, always speak slowly, deliberately, and with reiteration. The capabilities of this language may be inferred from the fact that the Pentateuch is fully expressed in Mr. Moffat's translation in fewer words than in the Greek Septuagint, and in a very considera- bly smaller number than in our own English version. 4- THE MAKOLOLO COUNTRY. 101 "Having been detained at Kuruman about a fortnight by the breaking of a wagon-wheel, I was thus providentially prevented from being present at the attack of the Boers on the Bakwains, news of which was brought about the end of that time, by Masebele, the wife of Sechele. She had herself been hidden in a cleft of a rock, over which a number of Boers were firing. Her infant began to cry, and, terrified lest this should attract the attention ot the men, the muzzles of whose guns appeared at every discharge over her head, she took oft' her armlets as playthings to quiet the child. She brought Mr. Moffat a letter, which tells its own tale. Nearly liter- ally translated, it was as follows : " ' Friend of my heart's love, and of all the confi- dence of my heart, I am Sechele. I am undone by the Boers, who attacked me, though I had no guilt with them. They demanded that I should be in their kingdom, and I refused. They demanded that I should prevent the English and Griquas from passing (northward). I replied, These are my friends, and I can prevent no one (of them). They came on Satur- day, and I besought them not to fight on Sunday, and they assented. They began on Monday morning at twilight, and fired with all their might, and burned the town with fire, and scattered us. They killed sixty of my people, and captured women, and children, and men. And the mother of Baleriling (a former wife of Sechele) they also took prisoner. They took ill the cattle and all the goods of the Bakwains ; and the house of Livingstone they plundered, taking away 102 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. all liis goods. The number of wagons they had was eighty-five, and a cannon ; and after they had stolen my own wagon and that of Macabe, then the number of their wagons (counting the cannon as one) was eighty-eight. All the goods of the hunters (certain English gentlemen hunting and exploring in the north) were burnt in the town; and of the Boers were killed twenty-eight. Yes, my beloved friend, my wife goes to see the children, and Kobus Hae will convey her to you. " ' I am, Sechele, " ' The Son of Mochoasele.' " It was some time before Livingstone found three servants who were willing to risk a journey to thf north. He was finally successful, and also accepted the company of a colored man named Fleming, who was desirous of opening trade with the Makololos. On the 20th of November they left Kuruman, and soon af- terwards met the chief Sechele, on his way to the Cape. He was determined to embark for England, and lay his grievances before the Queen. He succeeded in get- ting as far as Capetown, but there his means became exhansted, and he was obliged to return to his country "Having parted with Sechele," Livingstone con tinucs, "we skirted along the Kalihari Desert, and sometimes within its borders, giving the Boers a wide berth. A larger fall of rain than usual had occurred in 1852, and that was the completion of a cycle of eleven or twelve years, at which the same phenomenon is reported to have happened on three occasions. An unusually large crop of melons had appeared in conse- THE MAKOLOLO COUNTRY. 103 quence. We had the pleasure of meeting with Mr J. Macabe returning from Lake Ngami, whkt he had succeeded in reaching by going right across the desert from a point a little to the south of Kolobeng. The accounts of the abundance of water-melons were amply confirmed by this energetic traveller ; for, having these in vast quantities, his cattle subsisteO on the fluid con tained in them for a period of no less than twenty-om days; and when at last they reached a supply of water, they did not seem to care much ao.vit it. Coming to the lake from the south-east, he crowed the Teoughe, and w r ent round the northern part of ii, and is the only European traveller wdio had actually seen it all. His estimate of the extent of the lake Is higher than that given by Mr. Oswell and myself or from about ninety to one hundred miles in circumference. " On the 31st of December, 1852, we reached the town of Sechele, called, from the part of the range on which it is situated, Litubaruba. Near the village there exists a cave named Lepelole ; it is an interesting evi dence of the former existence of a gushing fountain. No one dared to enter the Lohaheng, or cave, for it w T as the common belief that it was the habitation of the Deity. As we never had a holiday from Januar> to December, and our Sundays were the periods ol our greatest exertions in teaching, I projected an ex- cursion into the cave on a week-day to see the god of the Bakwains. The old men said that every one who went in there remained there forever, adding, ' If the teacher is so mad as to kill himself, let him do so alone we shall not be to blame.' The declaration of Sechele that he would follow where I led, produced the great 104 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. est consternation. It is curious that in all their pre tended dreams or visions of their god, he has always a crooked leg, like the Egyptian Thau. Supposing that those who were reported to have perished in this cave had fallen over some precipice, we went well provided with lights, ladder, lines, etc. ; but it turned out to be only an open cave, with an entrance about ten feet square, which contracts into two water-w r orn branches, ending in round orifices through which the water once flowed. The only inhabitants it seems ever to have had were baboons. I left at the end of the upper branch one of Father Mathew's leaden teetotal tickets. " The Bechuanas are universally much attached to children. A little child toddling near a party of men while they are eating is sure to get a handful of the food. This love of children may arise, in a great meas- ure, from the patriarchal system under which they dwell. Every little stranger forms an increase of prop- erty to the whole community, and is duly reported to the chief — boys being more welcome than girls. The parents take the name of the child, and often address their children as Ma (mother), or Ra (father). Our eldest boy being named Robert. Mrs. Livingstone was, after his birth, always addressed as Ma-Robert, instead of Mary, her Christian name. " The whole of the country adjacent to the desert, from Kuruman to Kolobeng, or Litubaruba, and be- yond up to the latitude of Lake Ngami, is remarkable for its great salubrity of climate. Not only the na- tives, but Europeans whose constitutions have been impaired by an Indian climate, find the tract of coun try indicated both healthy and restorative. The THE MAKOLOLO COUNTRY. 105 health and longevity of the missionaries have always been fair, though mission- work is not very conducive to either elsewhere. Cases have been known in which patients have come from the coast with com- plaints closely resembling, if they were not actually, those of consumption ; and they have recovered by the influence of the climate alone. It must always be borne in mind that the climate near the coast, from which we received such very favorable reports of the health of the British troops, is actually inferior for persons suffering from pulmonary complaints to that of any part not subjected to the influence of sea-air. I have never seen the beneficial effects of the inland climate on persons of shattered constitutions, nor heard their high praises of the benefit they have de- rived from travelling, without wishing that its bracing effects should become more extensively known in England. " Having remained five days w T ith the wretched Bakwains, seeing the effects of war, of which only a very inadequate idea can ever be formed by those who have not been eye-witnesses of its miseries, we pre- pared to depart on the 15th of January, 1853. On the 21st we reached the wells of Boatlanama, and found them for the first time empty. Lopepe, which I had formerly seen, a stream running from a large reedy pool, was also dry. The hot salt springs of Serinane, east of Lopepe, being undrinkable, we pushed on to Mashiie for its delicious waters. In trav- elling through this country, the olfactory nerves are frequently excited by a strong disagreeable odor. This is caused by a large jet-black ant named 106 TRA VELS M SOUTH AFRICA. ' Leshonya.' It is nearly an inch in length, and emits a pungent smell when alarmed, in the same manner as the skunk. The scent must be as volatile as ether, for, on irritating the insect with a stick six feet long, the odor is instantly perceptible. " Occasionally we lighted upon land tortoises, which, with their unlaid eggs, make a very agreeable dish. We saw many of their trails leading to the salt foun- tain ; they must have come great distances for this health-giving article. In lieu thereof they often de- vour wood-ashes. It is wonderful how this reptile holds its place in tiu country. When seen, it never escapes. The young are taken for the sake of their shells ; these are made into boxes, which, filled with sweet-smelling roots, the women hang around their persons. When older it is used as food, and the shell converted into a rude basin to hold food or water. It owes its continuance neither to speed nor cunning. Its color, yellow and dark brown, is well adapted, by its similarity to the surrounding grass and brushwood, to render it indistinguishable ; and, though it makes an awkward attempt to run on the approach of man, its trust is in its bony covering, from which even the teeth of a hysena glance off foiled. When this long, lived creature is about to deposit her eggs, she lets herself into the ground by throwing the earth up round her shell, until only the top is visible ; then covering up the eggs, she leaves them until the rains begin to fall and the fresh herbage appears; the young ones then come out, their shells still quite soft, and, unattended by their dam, begin the world for them- selves. Their food is tender grass and a plant named THE MAKOLOLO COUNTRY. 107 tkotoim arid they frequently resort to heaps of ashes and places containing efflorescence of the nitrates" for the salts these contain." Livingstone also gives the following interesting account of the South African ostrich and its habits : " The ostrich is generally seen quietly feeding on some spot where no one can approach him without being detected by his wary eye. As the wagon moves along far to the windward he thinks it is intending to cir- cumvent him, so he rushes up a mile or so from the leeward, and so near to the front oxen that one some- times gets a shot at the silly bird. When he begins to run all the game in sight follow his example. I have seen this folly taken advantage of when he was feeding quietly in a valley open at both ends. A number of men would commence running, as if to cut off his re- treat from the end through which the wind came ; and although he had the whole country hundreds of miles before him by going to the other end, on he madly rushed to get past the men, and so was speared. He never swerves from the course he once adopts, but only increases his speed. " When the ostrich is feeding, his pace is from twenty to twenty -two inches ; when walking, but not feeding, it is twenty-six inches ; and when terrified, as in the case noticed, it is from eleven and a half to thirteen and even fourteen feet in length. Only in one case w T as I at all satisfied of beins; able to count the rate of speed by a stop-watch, and, if I am not mistaken, there Hrere thirty in ten seconds ; generally one's eye can no more follow the legs than it can the spokes of a car- riage-wheel in rapid motion. If we take the above 108 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. number, and twelve feet stride as the average pace, we have a speed of twenty-six miles an hour. It can- not be very much above that, and is therefore slower than a railway locomotive. They are sometimes shot by the horseman making a cross cut to their undevia- ting course, but few Englishmen ever succeed in kill- ing them. The ostrich begins to lay her eggs before she has fixed on a spot for a nest, which is only a hollow a few inches deep in the sand, and about a yard in diameter. Solitary eggs, named by the Bechuanas " lesetla," are thus found lying forsaken all over the country, and become a prey to the jackal. She seems averse to risking a spot for a nest, and often lays her eggs in that of another ostrich, so that as many as forty-five have been found in one nest. Some eggs contain small concretions of the matter which forms the shell, as occurs also in the egg of the common fowl : this has given rise to the idea of stones in the eggs. Both male and female assist in the incubations ; but the numbers of females being always greatest, it is prob- able that cases occur in which the females have the entire charge. Several eggs lie out of the nest, and are thought to be intended as food for the first of the newly-hatched brood till the rest come out and enable the whole to start in quest of food. I have several times seen newly-hatched young in charge of the cock, who made a very good attempt at appearing lame in the plover fashion, in order to draw off the at- tention of pursuers. The young squat down and re- main immovable when too small to run far, but attain a wonderful degree of speed when about the size of THE MAKOLOLO COUNTRY. 109 common fowls. It cannot be asserted that ostriches are polygamous, though they often appear to be so. When caught they are easily tamed, but are of no use in their domesticated state. " The egg is possessed of very great vital power. One kept in a room during more than three months, in a temperature about 60°, when broken, was found to have a partially-developed live chick in it. The Bush- men carefully avoid touching the eggs, or leaving marks of human feet near them, when they find a nest. They go up the wind to the spot, and with a long stick remove some of them occasionally, and, by preventing any suspicion, keep the hen laying on for months, as we do with fowls. The eggs have a strong, disagree- able flavor, which only the keen appetite of the desert can reconcile one to. The Hottentots use their trow- sers to carry home the twenty or twenty-live eggs usu- ally found in a nest ; and it has happened that an Eng- lishman intending to imitate this knowing dodge, comes to the wagons with blistered legs, and, after great toil, finds all the eggs uneatable, from having been some time sat upon." When they reached the Bamangwato tribe, the chief Sekomi was particularly friendly, and collected the natives of his encampment to hear the religious services. Here the caravan rested for some days before advancing into the arid plains to the eastward of Lake Xgami, over which Livingstone had passed in his first journey to the Makololo country. He adds some cu- rious particulars of the habits of the natives : " All the Bechuana and Kaffer tribes south of the Zambesi prac- tice circumcision Q>oguera>, but the rites observed are 110 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. carefully concealed. The initiated alone can approach, but in this town I was once a spectator of the second part of the ceremony of the circumcision, called ' se- chu.' Just at the dawn of day, a row of boys of nearly fourteen years of age stood naked in the kotla, each having a pair of sandals as a shield on his hands. Facing them stood the men of the town in a similar state of nudity, all armed with long thin wands, of a tough, strong, supple bush called moretloa (Grewia flava), and engaged in a dance named 'koha,' in which questions are put to the boys, as 'Will you guard the chief well ? ' ' Will you herd the cattle well?' and, while the latter give an affirmative re- sponse, the men rush forward to them, and each aims a full-weight blow at the back of one of the boys. Shielding himself with the sandals above his head, he causes the supple wand to descend and bend into his back, and every stroke inflicted thus makes the blood squirt out of a wound a foot or eighteen inches long. At the end of the dance, the boys' backs are seamed with wounds and weals, the scars of which remain through life. This is intended to harden the young soldiers, and prepare them for the rank of men. After this ceremony, and after killing a rhinoceros, they may marry a wife, **No one of the natives knows how old he is. If asked his age, he answers by putting another ques- tion, ■ Does a man remember when he was born ? ' Age is reckoned by the number of mepato they have 6een pass through the formulae of admission. When they see four or five mepato younger than themselves, they are no longer obliged to bear arms. The oldest THE MAKOLOLO COUNTRY. \\\ individual I ever met boasted lie had seen eleven sets of boys submit to the boguera. Supposing him to have been fifteen when he saw his owm, and fresh bands w T ere added every six or seven years, he must have been about forty when he saw the fifth, and may have attained seventy-five or eighty years, which is no great age ; but it seemed so to them, for he had now doubled the age for superannuation among them. It is an ingenious plan for attaching the members of the tribe to the chief's family, and for imparting a disci- pline which renders the tribe easy of command. On their return to the town from attendance on the cere- monies of initiation, a prize is given to the lad w r ho can run fastest, the article being placed where all may see the winner run up to snatch it. They are then considered men (banona, viri), and can sit among the elders in the kotla. Formerly they were only boys (basimane, pueri). The first missionaries set their faces against . the boguera, on account of its conne<~ tion with heathenism, and the fact that the youtns learned much evil, and became disobedient to their parents. From the general success of these men, it is perhaps better that younger missionaries should tread in their footsteps; for so much evil may result from breaking dowm the authority on which, to those who cannot read, the whole system of our influence appears to rest, that innovators ought to be made to propose their new measures as the Locrians did new T laws — with ropes around their necks." For a few r days after leaving the Bamangwato there were good supplies of water. Then followed a stretch oi sixty miles over a desert streaked with deposits 1 1 2 TRA VELS IN SO UTH A FRIi A. of salt; and for nearly a month the privations of the caravan were very great, some of the few wells being spoiled by rhinoceros, while in other places water could only be found by digging. The tropical rains had been delayed long after their usual time, and it was not until the end of February, at a place called Unku, that they found fresh vegetation and abundant pools. Here the forest trees were all in blossom, and full of birds, the plains were covered with grass, and game of all kinds was plenty. On the first of March Livingstone writes : " The thermometer in the shade generally stood at 98° from 1 to 3 p. M.j but it sank as low as 65° by night, so that the heat was by no means exhausting. At the surface of the ground, in the sun, the thermometer marked 125°, and three inches below it 138°. The hand cannot be held on the ground, and even the horny soles of the feet of the natives must be pro- tected by sandals of hide; yet the ants were busy working on it. The water in the ponds was as high as 100° ; but as water does not conduct heat readily downward, delicionsly cool water may be obtained by any one walking into the middle and lifting up the water from the bottom to the surface with his hands. " Proceeding to the north, from Kama-kama, we entered into dense Mohonono bush, which required the constant application of the axe by three of our party tor two days. This bush has fine silvery leaves, and the bark has a sweet taste. The elephant, with his usual delicacy of taste, feeds much on it. On emerging into the plains beyond, we found a number of Bushmen, who afterward proved very serviceable. THE MAKOLOLO COUNTRY. H3 The rains had been copious, but now great numbers of pools were drying up. Lotus-plants abounded in them, and a low, sweet-scented plant covered their banks. " The grass here was so tall that the oxen became uneasy, and one night the sight of a hyena made them rush away into the forest to the east of us. On rising on the morning of the 19th, I found that my Bakwain lad had run away with them. This I have often seen with persons of this tribe, even when the cattle are startled by a lion. Away go the young men in company with them, and dash through bush and brake for miles, till they think the panic is a little subsided ; they then commence whistling to the cattle in the manner they do when milking the cows: hav- ing calmed them, they remain as a guard till the morning. The men generally return with their shins well peeled by the thorns. Each comrade of the Mopato would expect his fellow to act thus, without looking for any other reward than the brief praise of the chief. Our lad, Kibopechoe, had gone after the Dxen, but had lost them in the rush through the flat, trackless forest. lie remained on their trail all the next day and all the next night. On Sunday morn- •ng, as I was setting off in search of him, I found him ijear the wagon. He had found the oxen late in the afternoon of Saturday, and had been obliged to stand by them all night. It was wonderful how he man- aged without a compass, and in such a country, to find his way home at all, bringing about forty oxen with him. "We wished to avoid the tsetse of our former 8 HJ. TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. path, so kept a course on the magnetic meridian from Lurilopepe. The necessity of making a new path much increased our toil. We were, however, re- warded in lat. 18° with a sight we had not enjoyed the year before, namely, large patches of grape-bearing vines. There they stood before my eyes; but the siffht was so entirely unexpected that I stood some time gazing at the clusters of grapes with which they were loaded, with no more thought of plucking than if I had been beholding them in a dream. The Bush- men know and eat them ; but they are not well-fla- vored on account of the great astringency of the seeds, which are in shape and size like split peas. The elephants are fond of the fruit, plant, and root alike. "Fleming had until this time always assisted to drive his own wagon, but about the end of March he knocked up, as well as his people. As I could not drive two wagons, I shared with him the remaining water, half a caskful, and went on, with the intention of coining back for him as soon as we should reach the next pool. Heavy rain now commenced ; I was employed the whole day cutting down trees, and every stroke of the axe brought down a thick shower on my hack, which in the hard work was very refreshing, as the water found its way down into my shoes. In the evening we met some Bushmen, who volunteered to show us a pool ; and having unyoked, 1 walked some miles in search of it. At it became dark they showed their politeness — a quality which is by no means confined entirely to the civilized — by walking in trout, breaking the branches which hung across the THE MAKOLOLO COUNTRY. 115 path, and pointing out the fallen trees. On returning to the wagon, we found that being left alone had bron glit out some of Fleming's energy, for he had managed to come up. " As the water in this pond dried up, we were soon obliged to move again. One of the Bushmen took out his dice, and, after throwing them, said that God told him to go home. He threw again in order to show me the command, but the opposite result followed ; so he remained and was useful, for we lost the oxen again by a lion driving them off to a very great distance. The lions here are not often heard. They seem to have a wholesome dread of the Bushmen, who, when they observe evidence of a lion's having made a full meal, follow up his spoor so quietly that his slumbers are not disturbed. One discharges a poisoned arrow from a distance of only a few feet, while his companion simultaneously throws his skin cloak on the beast's head. The sudden surprise makes the lion lose his presence of mind, and he bounds away in the greatest confusion and terror. Our friends here showed me the poison which they use on these occasions. It is the entrails of a caterpillar called N'gwa, half an inch long. They squeeze out these, and place them all around the bottom of the barb, and allow the poison to dry in the sun. They are very careful in cleaning their nails after working with it, as a small portion introduced into a scratch acts like morbid matter in dis- section wounds. The agony is so great that the person cuts himself, calls for his mother's breast as if he were returned in idea to his childhood again, or flies from human habitations a raging maniac. The effects on 1 16 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. the lion are equally terrible. He is heard moaning in distress, and becomes furious, biting the trees and ground in rage. " As we went north the country became very lovely ; many new trees appeared ; the grass was green, and often higher than the wagons ; the vines festooned the trees, among which appeared the real banian (Ficw Indica) with its drop-shoots, and the wild date and pal- myra, and several other trees which were new to me ; the hollows contained large patches of water. Next came water-courses, now resembling small rivers, twenty yards broad and four feet deep. The further we went, the broader and deeper these became ; their bottoms contained great numbers of deep holes, made by elephants wading in them ; in these the oxen floun- dered desperately, so that our wagon-pole broke, com- pelling ns to work up to the breast in water for three hours and a half; yet I suffered no harm. " We at last came to the Sanshureh, which presented an impassable barrier, so we drew up under a magnifi- cent baobab-tree, (lat. 18° 4' S., long. 24° 6' E.), and resolved to explore the river for a ford. The great quanity of water we had passed through Mas part of the annual inundation of the Chobe ; and this, which appeared a large, deep river, filled in many parts with reeds, and having hippopotami in it, is only one of the branches by which it sends its superabundant water to the south-east. From the hill N'gwa a ridge of higher land runs to the north-east, and bounds its course in that direction. We, being ignorant of this, were in the valley, and the only gap in the whole country destitute of tsetee. In company with the Bushmen, I explored THE MAKOLOLO COUNTRY. \\\ all the banks of the Sanshnreh to the west, till we came into tsetse on that side. AVe waded a long way among the reeds in water breast deep, but always found a broad, deep space free from vegetation and unfordable. A peculiar kind of lichen, which grows on the surface of the soil, becomes detached and floats on the water, giving out a very disagreeable odor, like sulphureted hydrogen, in some of these stagnant waters. "Next morning, by climbing the highest trees, we could see a fine, large sheet of water, but surrounded on all sides by the same impenetrable belt of reeds. This is the broad part of the River Chobe, and is called Zabesa. Two tree-covered islands seemed to be much nearer to the water than the shore on which we were, so we made an attempt to get to them first. It was not the reeds alone we had to pass through ; a pe- culiar serrated grass, which at certain angles cut the hands like a razor, was mingled with the reed, and the climbing convolvulus, with stalks which felt as strong as whipcord, bound the mass together. AVe felt like pigmies in it. and often the only way we could get on was by both of us leaning against a part and bending it down till we could stand upon it. The perspiration streamed off our bodies, and as the sun rose high, there being r*o ventilation among the reeds, the heat was stifling, and the water, which was up to the knees, felt agreeably refreshing. After some hours' toil, we reached one of the islands. Here we met an old friend, the bramble-bush. My strong moleskins were quite worn through at the knees, and the leather trowsers of my companion were torn and his legs bleeding. Tear- ing my handkerchief in two, I tied the pieces around 118 TRA VEL S IN SOU Til A FRICA . my knees, and then encountered another difficulty. We were still forty or fifty yards from the clear water, but now we were opposed by great masses of papyrus, which are like palms in miniature, eight or ten feet high, and an inch and a half in diameter. These were lased together by twining convolvulus, so strongly that the weight of both of us could not make way into the clear water. At last we fortunately found a passage prepared by a hippopotamus. Eager as soon as we reached the island to look along the vista to clear water, I stepped in and found it took me at once up to the neck. " Returning nearly worn out, we proceeded up the bank of the Chobe till we came to the point of depart- ure of the branch Sanshureh ; we then went in the opposite direction, or down the Chobe, though from the highest trees we could see nothing but one vast ex- panse of reed, with here and there a tree on the islands." Next morning they started again, embarking on a light pontoon boat, which they had brought with them. " We paddled on from midday till sunset. There was nothing but a wall of reed on each bank, and we saw every prospect of spending a supperless night in our float; but just as the short twilight of these parts was commencing, we perceived, on the north bank of the village ofMoremi, one of the Makololo, whose acquaintance I had made on our former visit, and who was now located on the island Mahonta (lat. 17° 58' S., long. 24° 6' E.). The villagers looked as we may suppose people do who see a ghost, and in their figurative way of speaking said, ' He lias dropped THE MAKOLOLO COUNTRY. H9 among us from the clouds, jet came riding on the back of a hippopotamus ! We Makalolo thought no one could cross the Chobe without our knowledge, but here he drops among us like a bird.' " Next day we returned in canoes across the flooded lands, and found that, in our absence, the men had al- lowed the cattle to wander into a very small patch of wood to the west containing the tsetse / this careless- ness cost me ten line large oxen. After remaining a few days, some of the head men of the Makololo came down from Linyanti, with a large party of Ba- rotse, to take us across the river. This they did in fine style, swimming and diving among the oxen more like alligators than men, and taking the wagons to pieces, and carrying them across on a number of canoes lashed together. We were now among friends; so going about thirty miles to the north, in order to avoid the still flooded lands on the north of the Chobe, we turned westward toward Linyanti (lat. 18° 17 f S., long. 23° 50' E.), where w T e arrived on the 23d of May, 1853. This is the capital town of the Makololo, and only a short distance from our wagon-stand of 1851. " The whole population of Linyanti, numbering be- tween six and seven thousand souls, turned out en masse to see the wagons in motion. They had never witnessed the phenomenon before, we having on the former occasion departed by night. Sekeletu, now in power, received us in what is considered royal style, setting before us a great number of pots of boyaloa, the beer of the country. These were brought by women, and each bearer takes a good draught of the 120 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. beer when she sets it down, by way of Hasting' to show that there is no poison. "The court herald, an old man who occupied the post also in Sebituane's time, stood up, and after some antics, such as leaping and shouting at the top of his voice, roared out some adulatory sentences, as, ' Don't I see the white man ? Don't I see the comrade of Sebit- uane ? Don't I see the lather of Sekeletu ? ' — ' We want sleep.' — ' Give your son sleep, my lord' etc., etc. The perquisites of this man are the heads of all the cattle slaughtered by the chief, and he even takes a share of the tribute before it is distributed and taken out of the kotla. He is expected to utter all the proclamations, call assemblies, keep the kotla clean, and the fire burn- ing every evening, and when a person is executed in public he drags away the body. u I found Sekeletu, a young man of eighteen years of age, of that dark yellow or coftee-and-milk color, of which the Makololo are so proud, because it distin- guishes them considerably from the black tribes on the rivers. He is about live feet seven in height, and neither so good looking nor of so much ability as his father was, but is equally friendly to the English. Sebituane installed his daughter Mamochisdne into the chieftainship long before his death, but, with all hi* •icuteness, the idea of her having a husband who should not be hei lord did not seem to enter his mind. Ho wished to make her his successor, probably in imita- tion of some of the negro tribes with whom he haoers ; we are not yet taught.' "Mpepe had given full permission to the Mambari slave-dealers to trade in all the Batoka and Bashuku- lompo villages to the east of this. He had given them cattle, ivory, and children, and had received in return a large blunderbuss to be mounted as a cannon. When the slight circumstance of my having covered the body of the chief with my own deranged the whole con- spiracy, the Mambari, in their stockade, were placed in very awkward circumstances. It was proposed to at- tack them and drive them out of the country at once: but, dreading a commencement of hostilities, I urged the difficulties of that course, and showed that a stock- ade defended by perhaps forty muskets would be a very serious affair. ' Hunger is strong enough foi mat,' said an under-chief; 'a very great fellow is he. They thought of attacking them by starvation. Ab the chief sufferers in case of such an attack would have been the poor slaves chained in gangs, I interceded for them, and the result of an intercession of which they were ignorant was that they were allowed to depart in peace. " Naliele, the capital of the Barotse, is built on a mound which was constructed artificially by San turn, and was his store-house for grain. His own capital j 38 TRA VELS IN SO UTII AFRICA. 6tood about five hundred yards to the south of that, m what is now the bed of the river. All that remains of the largest mound in the valley are a few cubic yards df earth, to erect which cost the whole of the people of Santuru the labor of many years. The same thing das happened to another ancient site of a town, Lin- angelo, also on the left bank. It would seem, there- fore, that the river in this part of the valley must be wearing eastward. No great rise of the river is re- quired to submerge the whole valley ; a rise of ten feet above the present low-water mark would reach the highest point it ever attains, as seen in the mark- ings of the bank on which stood Santuru's ancient capital, and two or three feet more would deluge all the villages. This never happens, though the water sometimes comes so near the foundations of the huts that the people cannot move outside the walls of reeds which encircle their villages. When the river is com- pressed among the high rocky banks near Goirye, it rises sixty feet." From the town of Naliele Livingstone walked to Katonga, a village to the eastward, on a ridge which seems to bound the valley of the Zambesi. But it was only the commencement of the inundated lands, which gradually rise from the dead level of the river- oottoms, like the edge of the desert in the valley of the Nile. The situation was not exempt from lever ; 60 he returned to Naliele and continued his voyage up the river to the town of Libonta. Beyond this point, ilense forests came to the water's edge, and the tseUe reappeared. Hearing that he was not far from a great river called Leeba, which came down from the VOYAGE UP THE ZAMBESI RIVER. 139 country of Londa (reports of which had been received through the Portuguese), he pushed on, and in Lat. 14° 11 ' S. reached the confluence of the Leeba with the Zambesi. The latter river here changes its course, and appears to come from the east; it is still a full, deep stream, about 300 yards wide, while the Leeba has a breadth of 250. There was no tradition of any white man having previously visited the region. "It was now," says Livingstone, "quite evident that no healthy location could be obtained in which the Makololo would be allowed to live in peace. I had thus a fair excuse, if I had chosen to avail myself of it, of coming home and saying that the ' door was shut,' because the Lord's time had not yet come. But believing that it was my duty to devote some portion of my life to these (to me at least) very con- fiding and affectionate Makololo, I resolved to follow out the second part of my plan, though I had failed in accomplishing the first. The Leeba seemed to come from the N. and by "W., or N.N. W. ; so, hav- ing an old Portuguese map, which pointed out the Coanza as rising from the middle of the continent in 9° S. lat., I thought it probable that, when we had ascended the Leeba (from 14° 11 ') two or three de- grees, we should then be within one hundred and twenty miles of the Coanza, and find no difficulty in following it down to the coast near Loanda. This was the logical deduction ; but, as is the case witn many a plausible theory, one of the premises was de- cidedly defective. The Coanza, as we afterward found, does not come from anywhere near the centre of the country. 140 TRA VELS IN SOUTH At RICA. "A party of Arabs from Zanzibar were in the coun- try at this time. Sekeletu had gone from Naliele to the town of his mother before we arrived from the north, but left an ox for our use, and instructions for us to follow him thither. We came down a branch of the Leeambye called Marile, which departs from the main river, and is a fine deep stream about sixty yards wide. It makes the whole of the country around Naliele an island. When sleeping at a village in the same latitude as INaliele town, two of the Arabs men- tioned made their appearance. They were quite as dark as the Makololo, but, having their heads shaved, I could not compare their hair with that of the inhabi- tants of the country. When we were about to leave they came to bid adieu, but I asked them to stay and help us eat our ox. As they had scruples about eating an animal hot blooded in their own way, I gained their good-will by saying I was quite of their opinion as to getting quit of the blood, and gave them two legs of an animal slaughtered by themselves. "As this was the first visit which Sekeletu had paid to this part of his dominions, it was to many a season of great joy. The head men of each village presented oxen, milk, and beer, more than the horde which accom- panied him could devour, though their abilities in that line are something wonderful. The people usually show their joy and work off their excitement in dai and songs. The dance consists of the men standing nearly naked in a circle, with clubs or small battle. in their hands, and each roaring at the loudest pitch of his voice, while they simultaneously lift one leg, 6tamp heavily twice with it, then lift the other anil MOONLIGHT DANCE. VOYAGE UP THE ZAMBESI RIVER. 141 give one stamp with that ; this is the only movement in common. The arms and head are often thrown about also in every direction ; and all this time the roaring is kept up with the utmost possible vigor ; the continued stamping makes a cloud of dust ascend, and they leave a deep ring in the ground where they stood. If the scene were witnessed in a lunatic asylum it would be nothing out of the way, and quite appropri- ate even, as a means of letting off the excessive excite- ment of the brain ; but here gray-headed men joined in the performance with as much zest as others whose youth might be an excuse for making the perspiration stream off their bodies with the exertion. Motibe asked what I thought of the Makololo dance. I replied, 'It is very hard work, and brings but small profit.' 'It is,' replied he, 'but it is very nice,, and Sekeletu will give us an ox for dancing for him.' He usually does slaughter an ox for the dancers when the work is over. " The women stand by, clapping their hands, and occasionally one advances into the circle, composed of a hundred men, makes a few movements, and then retires. As I never tried it, and am unable to enter into the spirit of the thing, I cannot recommend the Makololo polka to the dancing world, but I have the authority of no less a person than Motibe, Sek- eletu's father-in-law, for saying ' it is very nice.' They often asked if white people ever danced. I thought of the disease called St. Yitus's dance, but could not Bay that all our dancers were affected by it, and gave an answer which, I ought to be ashamed to own, did not raise some of our young countrywomen in the estimation of the Makololo. 142 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. "As Sekeletu had been waiting for me at his mother's, we left the town as soon as I arrived, and proceeded down the river. Our speed with the stream was very great, for in one day we went from Litofe to Gonye, a distance of forty-four miles of latitude ; and if we add to this the windings of the river, in longi- tude the distance will not be much less than sixty geographical miles. At this rate w r e soon reached Sesheke, and then the town of Linyanti. " I had been, during a nine weeks' tour, in closer contact with heathenism than I had ever been before ; and though all, including the chief, were as kind and attentive to me as possible, and there was no want of food (oxen being slaughtered daily, sometimes ten at a time, more than sufficient for the wants of all), yet to endure the dancing, roaring, and singing, the jest- ing, anecdotes, grumbling, quarreling, and murdering of these children of nature, seemed more like a severe penance than anything I had before met with in the course of my missionary duties. I took thence a more intense disgust at heathenism than I had before, and formed a greatly elevated opinion of the latent effects of missions, in the south, among tribes which are reported to have been as savage as the Makololo. The indirect benefits which, to a caenal observer, lie beneath the surface and are inappreciable, in reference to the probable wide diffusion of Chris- tianity at some future time, are worth all the monf y and labor that have been expended to produce them." CHAPTEE X. Livingstone's journey aceoss the continent. in. UP THE LEEBA RIVER. THE Makololo were so quick to perceive the ad- vantages of a regular trade with white men, that the greatest difficulties in the way of Livingstone's fur- ther exploration were removed. He decided to wait at Linyanti until the rains should have moderated the tropical heats, and then set out to find a way to St. Paul de Loanda. His observation of the latitude of Linyanti showed that the port of St. Philip de Benguela was much nearer, and he could have made arrangements with the Mambari tribe to pass through their territory ; but he wisely preferred not to follow in the wake of slave-traders. Parties sent out to the westward, to discover a belt of territory free from the tsetse fly, returned unsuccessful, and the best prospect seemed to be to ascend the Zambesi and the Leeba as far as possible, and then strike westwards for the coast. Livingstone's account of the discussion of the matter among the natives, and his preparations for the further journey, must be given in his own words: "A 'picho'was called to deliberate on the steps proposed. In these assemblies great freedom 01 speech is allowed ; and on this occasion one of the old diviners said, ' Where is he taking you to? This 144 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. white man is throwing you away. Your gar men ta already smell of blood.' It is curious to observe how much identity of character appears all over the world. This man was a noted croaker. He always dreamed something dreadful in every expedition, and was cer- tain that an eclipse or comet betokened the propriety of flight. But Sebituane formerly set his visions down to cowardice, and Sekeletu only laughed at him now. The general voice was in my favor ; so a band of twenty-seven were appointed to accompany me to the west. These men were not hired, but sent to enable me to accomplish an object as much desired by the chief and most of his people as by me. They were eager to obtain free and profitable trade with white men. The prices which the Cape merchants could give, after defraying the great expenses of a long journey hither, being very small, made it scarce worth while for the natives to collect produce for that market ; and the Mambari, giving only a few bits of print and baize for elephants' tusks worth more pounds than they gave yards of cloth, had produced the be- lief that trade with them was throwing ivory away. The desire of the Makololo for direct trade with the sea-coast coincided exactly with my own conviction that no permanent elevation of a people can be effected without commerce. " The Makololo now put the question, ' In the event of your death, will not the white people blame us for having allowed you to go away into an un- healthy, unknown country of enemies V 1 replied that none of my friends would blame them, because I would leave a book with Sekeletu, to be sent to Mr UP THE LEEBA RIVER. 145 Moffat in case I did not return, which would explain to him all that had happened until the time of my departure. The book was a volume of my Journal; and, as I was detained longer than I expected at Loanda, this book, with a letter, was delivered by Sekeletu to a trader, and I have been unable to traco it. I regret this now, as it contained valuable notes on the habits of wild animals, and the request was made in the letter to convey the volume to my family. The prospect of passing away from this fair and beautiful world thus came before me in a pretty plain, matter-of-fact form, and it did seem a serious thing to leave wife and children — to break up all connection with earth, and enter on an untried state of existence; and I find myself in my Journal pondering over that fearful migration which lands us in eternity, wonder- ing whether an angel will soothe the fluttering soul, sadly flurried as it must be on entering the spirit world, and hoping that Jesus might speak but one word of peace, for that would establish in the bosom an everlasting calm. "I had three muskets for my people, a rifle and double-barreled smooth-bore for myself; and, having seen such great abundance of game in my visit to the Leeba, I imagined that I could easily supply the wants of my party. "Wishing also to avoid the discourage- ment which would naturally be felt on meeting any obstacles if my companions were obliged to carry heavy loads, I took only a few biscuits, a few pounds of tea and sugar, and about twenty of coffee, which, as the Arabs find, though used without either milk or sugar, is a most refreshing beverage after fatigue or exposure 10 1-16 TRA VELS IN SO UTH AFRICA. to the sun. "We carried one small tin canister, about fifteen inches square, filled with spare shirting, trow- sers, and shoes, to be used when we reached civilized life, and others in a bag, which were expected to wear out on the way; another of the same size for medi- cines ; and a third for books, my stock being a Nautical Almanac, Thomson's Logarithm Tables, and a Bible; a fourth box contained a magic lantern, which we found of much use. The sextant and artificial horizon, thermometer, and compasses were carried apart. My ammunition was distributed in portions through the whole luggage, so that, if an accident should befall one part, we could still have others to fall back upon. Our chief hopes for food were upon that ; but in case of failure, I took about 201bs. of beads, worth 40*., which still remained of the stock I brought from Cape- town, a small gipsy -tent, just sufficient to sleep in, a sheep-skin mantle as a blanket, and a horse-rug as a bed. As I had always found that the art of successful travel consisted in taking as few 'impedimenta 5 as possible, and not forgetting to carry my wits about me, the outfit was rather spare, and intended to be still more so when we should come to leave the canoes. Some would consider it injudicious to adopt this plan, but I had a secret conviction that if I did not succeed, it would not be for want of the 'knick-knacks' adver- tised as indispensable for travellers, but from want of 'pluck,' or because a large array of baggage excited the cupidity of the tribes through whose country we wished to pass. " The course of the Chobe TCiver, after starting, we found to be extremely tortuous ; so much so, indeed, UP THE LEEBA RIVER. 147 as to carry us to all points of the compass every dozen miles. Some of ns walked from a bend at the village of Morerai, to another nearly due east of that point, in six hours, while the canoes, going at more than double our speed, took twelve to accomplish the voy« age between the same two places. And though the river is from thirteen to fifteen feet in depth at its low- est ebb, and br?ad enough to allow a steamer to ply upon it, the suddenness of the bendings would prevent navigation ; but, should the country ever become civ- ilized, the Chobe would be a convenient natural canal. " After spending one night at the Makololo village on Mparia, we left the Chobe, and turning round, be- gan to ascend the Leeambye ; on the 19 th of Novem- ber we again reached the town of Sesheke. It stands on the north bank of the river, and contains a large population of Makalaka, under Moriantsane, brother- in-law of Sebituane. There are parties of various tribes here, assembled under their respective head men, but a few Makololo rule over all. Their sway, though essentially despotic, is considerably mollified by certain customs and laws. " The following circumstance, which happened here when I was present with Sekeletu, shows that the simple mode of punishment, by forcing a criminal to work out a fine, did not strike the Makololo mind un- til now. A stranger having visited Sesheke for the purpose of barter, was robbed by one of the Makalaka of most of his goods. The thief, when caught, con- fessed the theft, and that he had given the articles to a person who had removed to a distance. The Makololo were much enraged at the idea of their good name 148 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. being compromised by this treatment of a stranger. Their customary mode of punishing a crime which causes much indignation is to throw the criminal into the river ; but, as this would not restore the lost prop- erty, they were sorely puzzled how to act. The case was referred to me, and I solved the difficulty by pay- ing for the loss myself, and sentencing the thief to work out an equivalent with his hoe in a garden. This sy? tem was immediately introduced, and thieves are now sentenced to raise an amount of corn proportioned to their offences. " On recovering partially from a severe attack of fever which remained upon me ever since our passing the village of Moremi on the Chobe, we made ready for our departure up the river by sending messages before us to the villages to prepare food. We took four elephants' tusks, belonging to Sekeletu, with us, as a means of testing the difference of prices between the Portuguese, whom we expected to reach, and the white traders from the south. Moriantsane supplied us well with honey, milk, and meal. The rains were just com- mencing in this district ; but, though showers sufficient to lay the dust had fallen, they had no influence what- ever on the amount of water in the river, yet never was there less in any part than three hundred yards of a deep flowing stream. "Our progress up the river was rather slow ; this ttas. caused by waiting opposite different villages for supplies of food. We might have done with much less than we got ; but my Makololo man, Piteane, knew of the generous orders of Sekeletu, and was not at all dis- posed to allow them to remain a dead letter. The vil- UP THE LEEBA RIVER. 149 lages of the Banyeti contributed laige quantities of mosibe, a bright red bean yielded by a large tree. The pulp inclosing the seed is not much thicker than a red wafer, and is the portion used. It requires the addition of honey to render it at all palatable. To these were added great numbers of the fruit which yields a variety of the nux vomica, from which we derive that virulent poison strychnia. The pulp between the nuts is the part eaten, and it is of a pleasant juicy nature, having a sweet acidulous taste. The fruit itself resembles a large yellow orange. " When under way our usual procedure is this : We get up a little before five in the morning ; it is then beginning to dawn. While T am dressing, coffee is made ; and, having tilled my pannikin, the remainder is handed to my companions, who eagerly partake of the refreshing beverage. The servants are busy load- ing the canoes, while the principal men are sip- ping the coffee, and, that being soon over, we embark. The next two hours are the most pleasant part of the day's sail. The men paddle away most vigorously ; the Bnrotse, being a tribe of boatmen, have large, deeply -developed chests and shoulders, with indifferent lower extremities. They often engage in loud scold- ing o^ each other in order to relieve the tedium of their work. About eleven we land, and eat any meat which may have remained from the previous evening meal, or a biscuit with honey, and drink water. " After an hour's rest we again embark and cower undei an umbrella. The heat is oppressive, and, being weak from the last attack of fever, I cannot land and keep the camp supplied with flesh. The men, being 150 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. quite uncovered in the sun, perspire profusely, and in the afternoon begin to stop, as if waiting for the canoes which have been left behind. Sometimes we reach a sleeping-place two hours before sunset, and, all being troubled with languor, we gladly remain for the night. Coffee again, and a biscuit, or a piece of course bread made of maize meal, or that of the native corn, make up the bill of tare for the evening, unless we have been fortunate enough to kill something, when we boil a potful of flesh. This is done by cutting it up into long strips and pouring in water till it is covered. When that is boiled dry, the meat is considered ready. " The people of every village treated us most liber- ally, presenting besides oxen, butter, milk, and meal, more than we could stow away in our canoes. The cows in this valley are now yielding, as they frequently do, more'milk than the people can use, and both men and women present butter in such quantity that I shall be able to refresh my men as we move along. Anointing the skin prevents the excessive evaporation of the fluids of the body, and acts as clothing in both sun and shade. They always made their pres- ents gracefully. When an ox was given the owner would say, 'Here is a little bit of bread for you.' This was pleasing, for I had been accustomed to the Bechuanas presenting a miserable goat, with the pom- pous exclamation, ' Behold an ox ! ' The women per- sisted in giving me* copious supplies of shrill praises, or < lullilooing ; ' but though I frequently told them to modify their ' great lords' and 'great lions' to more umnble expressions, they so evidently intended to do me honor that I could not help being pleased with the Door creatures' wishes for our success. UP THE LEEBA RIVER. 151 " The rains began while we were at Naliele ; this is much later than usual ; though the Bar- otse valley has been in need of rain, the people never lack abundance of food. The showers are refreshing, but the air feels hot and close; the thermometer, however, in a cool hut, stands only at 84:°. The access of the external air to any spot at once raises its temperature above 90°. A new attack of fever here caused excessive languor ; but, as I am already getting tired of quoting my fevers, and never liked to read travels myself where much was said about the illness of the traveller, 1 shall henceforth endeavor to say little about them. " Leaving Naliele, amid abundance of good wishes for the success of our expedition, and hopes that we might return accompanied with white traders, we began again our ascent of the river. It was now beginning to rise, though the rains had but just com- menced in the valley. The banks are low, but cleanly cut, and seldom sloping. At low water they are from four to eight feet high, and make the river always assume very much the aspect of a canal. They are in some parts of whitish, tenacious clay, with strata of black clay intermixed, and black loam in sand, or pure sand stratified. As the river rises it is always wearing to one side or the other, and is known to have cut across from one bend to another, and to form new channels. As we coast along the shore, pieces which are undermined often fall in with a splash like that caused by the plunge of an alligator, and en danger the canoe. " Before leaving the villages entirely, we may 152 TRA VEL S IN SOU Til A FRICA. glance at our way of spending the nights. As soon as we land, some of the men cut a little grass for my bed, while Mashuana plants the poles of the little tent. These are used by day for carrying burdens, for the Barotse fashion is exactly like that of the natives of India, only the burden is fastened near the ends of the pole, and not suspended by long cords. The bed is made, and boxes ranged on each side of it, and then the tent pitched over all. Four or live feet in front of my tent is placed the principal or kotla fire, the wood for which must be collected by the man who occupies the post of herald, and takes as his perquisite the heads of all the oxen slaughtered, and of all the game too. Each person knows the station he is to occupy, in reference to the post of honor at the fire in front of the door of the tent. The two Makololo occupy my right and left, both in eating and. sleeping, as long as the journey lasts. But Mashauana, my head boatman, makes his bed at the door of the tent as soon as I re- tire. The rest, divided into small companies accord- ing to their tribes, make sheds all round the tire, leav- ing a horseshoe-shaped space in front sufficient for the cattle to stand in. The tire gives confidence to the oxen, so the men are always careful to keep them in sight of it. The sheds are formed by planting two stout forked poles in an inclined direction, and placing another over these in a horizontal position. A num- ber of branches are then stuck in the ground in the direction to which the poles are inclined, the twigs drawn down to the horizontal pole and tied with strips of bark. Long grass is then laid over the branches in lufhVieut quantity to -draw off the rain, and we have UP THE LEEBA RIVER. 153 *heds open to the lire in front, but secure from beasts behind. In less than an hour we were usually all under cover. We never lacked abundance of grass during the whole journey. It is a picturesque sight at night, when the clear bright moon of these climates glances on the sleeping forms around, to look out upon the attitudes of profound repose both men and beasts assume. There being no danger from wild animals in such a night, the fires are allowed almost to* go out ; and as there is no fear of hungry dogs coming over 6leepers and devouring the food, or quietly eating up the poor fellows' blankets, which at best were but greasy skins, which sometimes happened in the vil- lages, the picture was one of perfect peace. " Part of our company marched along the banks with the oxen, and part went in the canoes, but our pace was regulated by the speed of the men on shore. Their course was rather difficult, on account of the numbers of departing and re-entering branches of the Leeambye, which they had to avoid or wait at till we ferried them over. The number of alligators is pro- digious, and in this river they are more savage than in some others. Many children are carried off annually at Sesheke and other towns ; for, notwithstanding the danger, when they go down for water they almost always must play a while. This reptile is said by the natives to strike the victim with its tail, then drag him in and drown him. When lying in the water watching for prey, the body never appears. Many calves are lost also, and it is seldom that a number of cows can swim over at Sesheke without some loss. I never could avoid shuddering on seeing my men swimming across 1 54 TRA VELS IN SO UTII AFRICA. these branches, after one of them had been caught by the thigh and taken below. He, however, retained, aa nearly all of them in the most trying circumstances do, his fall presence of mind, and, having a small, square, ragged-edged javelin with him, when dragged to the bottom, gave the alligator a stab behind the shoulder. The alligator, writhing in pain, left him, and he came out with the deep marks of the reptile's teeth on his thigh. Here the people have no antipathy to persons who have met with such an adventure, but, in the Ba- mangwato and Bakwain tribes, if a man is either bit- ten, or even has had water splashed over him by the reptile's tail, he is expelled his tribe. When on the Zouga we saw one of the Bamangwato living among the Bayeiye, who had the misfortune to have been bitten and driven out of his tribe in consequence. Fearing that I would regard him with the same dis- gust which his countrymen profess to feel, he would not tell me the cause of his exile, but the Bayeiye informed me of it, and the scars of the teeth were visible on his thigh. If the Bakwains happened to go near an alligator they would spit on the ground, and indicate its presence by saying, * Boleo ki bo ' — i There is sin.' They imagine the mere sight of it would give inflammation of the eyes; and though they eat the zebra without hesitation, yet if one bites a man he is expelled the tribe, and obliged to take his wife and family awa} T to the Kalahari. These curious relics of the animal worship of former times scarcely exist among the Makololo. Sebituane acted on the principle, ' Whatever is food for men is food for me ; ' so no man is here considered unclean. The 7 UP THE LEEBA RIVER. 155 Barotse appear inclined to pray to alligators and eat them too, for when T wounded a water-antelope, called mochose, it took to the water; when near the other side of the river an alligator appeared at its tail, and then both sank together. Mashauanu, who was nearer to it than I, told me that, ' though he had called to it to let his meat alone, it refused to listen.' One day we passed some Barotse lads who had speared an alli- gator, and were waiting in expectation of its floating soon after. The meat has a strong musky odor, not at all inviting for any one except the very hungry. " On the 27th of December we were at the conflu- ence of the Leeba and Leeambye (lat. 14° 10 f S., long. 28° 35 f E.). Masiko, the Barotse chief, for whom wo had some captives, lived nearly due east of this point. The) were two little boys, a little girl, a young man, and two middle-a^ed women. One of these was a member of a Babimpe tribe, who knock out both up- per and lower front teeth as a distinction. As we had been informed by the captives on the previous Sun- day that Masiko was in the habit of seizing all or- phans, and those who have no powerful friend in the tribe whose protection they can claim, and selling them for clothing to the Mambari, we thought the objection of the women to go first to his town before seeing their friends quite reasonable, and resolved to send a party of our own people to see them safely among their relatives. I told the captive young man to inform Masiko that he was very unlike his father Banturu, who had refused to sell his people to Mam- bari. He will probably be afraid to deliver such a \nessage himself, but it is meant for his people, and 1 56 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. they will circulate it pretty widely, and Masiko maj may yet feel a little pressure from without. u We now began to ascend the Leeba. The water is black in color as compared with the main stream, which here assumes the name Kabompo. The Leeba flows placidly, and, unlike the parent river, receives numbers of little rivulets from both sides. It winds slowly through the most charming meadows, each of which has either a soft, sedgy centre, large pond, or trickling rill down the middle. The trees are now cov- ered with a profusion of the freshest foliage, and seem planted in groups of such pleasant, graceful outline that art could give no additional charm. The grass, which had been burned off and was growing again after the rains, was short and green, and all the sce- nery so like that of a carefully-tended gentleman's park, that one is scarcely reminded that the surrounding re- gion is in the hands of simple nature alone. I suspect that the level meadows are inundated annually, for the spots on which the trees stand are elevated three or four feet above them, and these elevations, being of different shapes, give the strange variety of outline of the park-like woods. Numbers of a fresh-water si 1 ell are scattered all over these valleys. The elevations, as I have observed elsewhere, are of a soft, sandy soil, and the meadows of black, rich alluvial loam. There are many beautiful flowers, and many bees to sip their nectar. "When we reached the part of the river opposite to the village of Manenko, the first female chief whom we encountered, two of the people called Balunda, or Balonda, came to us in their little canoe. From them UP THE LEEBA RIVER. 157 we learned that Kolimbota, one of our party, who had been in the habit of visiting these parts, was believed by the Balonda to have acted as a guide to the mar- auders, whose captives we were now returning. They very naturally suspected this, from the facility with which their villages had been found, and, as they had since removed them to some distance from the river, they were unwilling to lead us to their places of con- cealment. We were in bad repute, but, having a cap- tive boy and girl to show in evidence of Sekeletu and ourselves not being partakers in the guilt of inferior men, I could freely express my desire that all should live in peace. "As it would have been impolitic to pass Ma- nenko, or any chief, without at least showing so much respect as to call and explain the objects of our pass- ing through the country, we waited two entire days for the return of the messengers to Manenko ; and as I could not hurry matters, I went into the adjacent country to search for meat for the camp. "The country is furnished largely with forest, having occasionally open lawns covered with grass, not in tufts as in the south, but so closely planted that one cannot see the soil. We came upon a man and his two w T ives and children, burning coarse rushes and the stalks of tsitla, growing in a brackish marsh, in order to extract a kind of salt from the ashes. They make a funnel of branches of trees, and line it with grass rope, twisted round until it is, as it were, a bee- Vive-roof inverted. The ashes are put into water, in a calabash, and then it is allowed to percolate through the small hole in the bottom and through the grass. 158 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. When this water is evaporated in the sun, it yields sufficient salt to form a relish with food. The women and children fled with precipitation, but we sat down at a distance, and allowed the man time to gain cour- age enough to speak. He, however, trembled exces- sively at the apparition before him ; but when we explained that our object was to hunt game, and not men, he became calm, and called back his wives. We soon afterward came to another party on the same er- rand with ourselves. The man had a bow about six feet long, and iron-headed arrows about thirty inches in length ; he had also wooden arrows neatly barbed, to shoot in cases where he might not be quite certain of recovering them again. We soon afterward got a zebra, and gave our hunting acquaintances such a liberal share that we soon became friends. "On the 6th of January 1S54, we reached the village of another female chief, named Kyamoana, who is said to be the mother of Manenko, and sister of Shinte or Kabompo, the greatest Balonda chief in this part of the country. Her people had but re- cently come to the present locality, and had erected only twenty huts. Her husband, Samoana, Mas clothed in a kilt of green and red baize, and was armed with a spear and a broadsword of antique form, about eighteen inches long and three broad. The chief and her husband were sitting on skins placed in the middle of a circle thirty paces in diameter, a little raised above the ordinary level of the ground, and having a trench round it. Outside the trench sat about a hundred persons of all ages and both sexes. The men were well armed with be \vs, arrows, spears, UP THE LEEBA RIVER. 15£ %nd broadswords. Beside the husband sat a rather aged woman, having a bad outward squint in the left eye. We put down our arms about forty yards off, and I walked up to the centre of the circular bench, and saluted him in the usual way by clapping the hands together in. their fashion. He pointed to his wife, as much as to say the honor belongs to her. I saluted her in the same way, and a mat having been brought, I squatted down in front of them. " The talker was then called, and I was asked who was my spokesman. Having pointed to Koliinbota, who knew their dialect best, the palaver began in due form. I explained the real objects I had in view, without any attempt to mystify or appear in any other character than my own, for I have always been satisfied that, even though there were no other con- siderations, the truthful way of dealing with the un- civilized is unquestionably the best. Koliinbota re- peated to Kyamoana's talker what I had said to him. lie delivered it all verbatim to her husband, who re- peated it again to her. It was thus all rehearsed four times over, in a tone loud enough to be heard by the whole party of auditors. The response came back by the same roundabout route, beginning at the lady to her husband, etc. "By wa} r of gaining their confidence, I showed them my hair, which is considered a curiosity in all this region. They said, * Is that hair ? It is the mane of a lion, and not hair at all.' Some thought that I had made a wig of lion's mane, as they some- times do with fibres of the < ife,' and dye it black, and twist it so as to resemble a mass of their own wool. 1 60 TRA VEL S IN SO U TH A FRICA . I could not return the joke by telling them that theirs was not hair, but the wool of sheep, for they have none of these in the country ; and even though they had, as Herodotus remarked, ' the African sheep are clothed with hair, and men's heads with wool." So I had to be content with asserting that mine was the real original hair, such as theirs would have been had it not been scorched and frizzled by the sun. In proof of what the sun could do, I compared my own bronzed face and hands, then about the same in com- plexion as the lighter-colored Makololo, with the white skin of my chest. They readily believed that, as they go nearly naked and fully exposed to that in. fluence, we might be of common origin after all. Here, as everywhere, when heat and moisture are combined, the people are very dark, but not quite black. There is always a shade of brown in the most deeply colored. I showed my watch and pocket compass, which are considered great curiosities; but, though the lady was called on by her husband to look, she would not be persuaded to approach near enough. "As the Leeba seemed still to come from the di- rection in which we wished to go, I was desirous of proceeding farther up with the canoes; but Nyamo- ana was anxious that we should allow her people to conduct us to her brother Shinte; and when I ex- plained the advantage of water-carriage, she repre- sented that her brother did not live near the river, and, moreover, there was a cataract in front, over which it would be difficult to convey the canoes. She was afraid, too, that the Kalobale, whose country lies UP THE LEEBA RIVER. \Q\ to the west of the river, not knowing the objects for which we had come, would kill us. To my reply that I had been so often threatened with death if I vis- ited a new tribe that I was now more afraid of killing any one than of being killed, she rejoined that the Ealobale would not kill me, but the Makololo would all be sacrificed as their enemies. This produced con- siderable effect on my companions, and inclined them to the plan of Nyamoana, of going to the town of her brother rather than ascending the Leeba. The ar- rival of Manenko herself on the scene threw so much weight into the scale on their side that I was forced to yield the point. " Manenko was a tall, strapping woman about twenty, distinguished by a profusion of ornaments and medicines hung round her person ; the latter are sup- posed to act as charms. Her body was smeared all over with a mixture of fat and red ochre, as a protection against the weather ; a necessary precaution, for, like most of the Balonda ladies, she was otherwise in a state of frightful nudit}\ This was not from want of clothing, for, being a chief, she might have been as well clad as any of her subjects, but from her peculiar ideas of ele- gance in dress. When she arrived with her husband, Sambanza, they listened for some time to the state- ments I was making to the people of JSTyamoana, aftei which the husband, acting as spokesman, commenced an oration, stating the reasons for their coming, and, during every two or three seconds of the delivery, he picked up a litt 3 sand, and rubbed it on the upper part of his arms and chest. This is a common mode of salutation in Londa; and when they wish to be ex- 11 162 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. cessivcly polite, they bring a quantity of ashes or pipe- clay in a piece of skin, and, taking up handfuls, rub it on the chest and upper front part of each arm ; others, in saluting, drum their ribs with their elbows ; while others still touch the ground with one cheek after the other, and clap their hands. The chiefs go through the manoeuvre of rubbing the sand on the arms, but only make a feint at picking up some. When Sam- banza had finished his oration, he rose up, and showed his ankles ornamented with a bundle of copper rings; had they been very heavy, they would have made him adopt a straggling walk. Some chiefs have really so many as to be forced, by the weight and size, to keep one foot apart from the other, the weight being a serious inconvenience in walking. " Manenko gave us some manioc roots in the morn- ing, and had determined to carry our baggage to her uncle's, Kabompo or Shinte. We had heard a sample of what she could do with her tongue; and as neither my men nor myself had much inclination to encomuo. a scolding from this black Mrs. Caudle, we made ready the packages ; but she came and said the men whom she had ordered for the service had not yet come; they would arrive to-morrow. Being on low and dis- agreeable diet, I felt snnoyed at this further delay, and ordered the packages to be put into the canoes to pro- ceed up the river without her servants; but Manenko was not to be circumvented in this way ; she came for- ward with her peop^, and said hei uncle would be angry if she did not carry forward the tusks and goods of Sekeletu, seized the luggage, and declared that she would carry it in spite of me. My men succumbed UP THE LEEBA RIVER. 163 ftooner to this petticoat government than I felt inclined to do, and left me no power ; and, being unwilling to encounter her tongue, I was moving off to the canoes, when she gave me a kind explanation, and, witli her hand on my shoulder, put on a motherly look, saying, 1 Now, my little man, just do as the rest have done.' My feelings of annoyance of course vanished, and I went out to try and get some meat. " On starting, the morning of the 11th, Samoana (or iather Myamoana, for the ladies are the chiefs here) presented a string of beads, and a shell highly valued among them, as an atonement for having assisted Manenko, as they thought to vex me the day before. They seemed anxious to avert any evil which might arise from my displeasure ; but having replied that I never kept my anger up all night, they were much pleased to see me satisfied. We had to cross, in a canoe, a stream which flows past the village of Nya- moana. .Manenko's doctor waved some charms over her, and she took some in her hand and on her body before she ventured upon the water. One of my men spoke rather loudly when near the doctor's basket of medicines. The doctor reproved him, and always spoke in a whisper himself, glancing back to the basket as if afraid of being heard by something therein. So much superstition is quite unknown in the south, and is mentioned here to show the difference in the feelings of this new people, and the comparative w r ant of rever- ence on these points among Kaffers and Bechuanas. " Manenko was accompanied by her husband and her drummer ; the latter continued to thump most vigorously until a heavy, drizzling mist set in and com- 164: TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. pelled him to desist. Her husband used various incan- tations and vociferations to drive away the rain, but down it poured incessantly, and on our Amazon went, in the very lightest marching order, and at a pace that few of the men could keep up with. Being on ox- back, I kept pretty close to our leader, and asked her why she did not clothe herself during the rain, and learned that it is not considered proper for a chief to appear effeminate. He or she must always wear the appearance of robust youth, and bear vicissitudes with- out wincing. My men, in admiration of her pedestrian powers, every now and then remarked, i Manenko is a soldier ; ' and thoroughly wet and cold, we were all glad when she proposed a halt to prepare our night's lodging on the banks of a stream. " The forests became more dense as we went north. We travelled much more in the deep gloom of the forest than in open sunlight. No passage existed on either side of the narrow path made by the axe. Large climbing plants entwined themselves around the trunks and branches of gigantic trees like boa con- strictors, and they often do constrict the trees by which they rise, and, killing them, stand erect themselves. The bark of a fine tree found in abundance here, and called 'motuia,' is used by the Barotse for making fish- lines and nets, and the 'molompi,' so well adapted for paddles by its lightness and flexibility, was abund- ant. There were other trees quite new to my compan- ions ; many of them ran up to a height of fifty feet of one thickness, and without branches. "The number of little villages seemed about equal to the number of valleys. At some we stopped an 1 UP THE LEEBA RIVER. 165 rested, the people becoming more liberal as we ad- vanced. Others we found deserted, a sudden panic having seized the inhabitants, though the drum of Manenko was kept beaten pretty constantly, in order to give notice of the approach of great people. When we had decided to remain for the night at any village, the inhabitants lent us the roofs of their huts, which in form resemble those of the Makololo, or a Chinaman's hat, and can be taken off the walls at pleasure. They lifted them off, and brought them to the spot we had selected as our lodging, and, when my men had propped them up with stakes, they were then safely housed for the night. Every one who comes to salute either Manenko or ourselves rubs the upper parts of the arms and chest with ashes ; those who wish to show pro- founder reverence put some also on the face. " We found that every village had its idols near it. This is the case all through the country of the Balonda, so that, when we came to an idol in the woods, we always knew that we were within a quarter of an hour of human habitations. One very ngly idol we passed rested on a horizontal beam placed on two upright posts. This beam was furnished with two loops of cord, as of a chain, to suspend offerings before it. On remarking to my companions that these idols had ears, but that they heard not, etc., I learned that the Balon- da, and even the Barotse, believe that divination may be performed by means of these blocks of wood and clay ! and though the wood itself could not hear, the owners had medicines by which it could be made to hear and give responses, so that if an enemy were ap- proaching they would have full information. 1 QQ TRA VELS IN SO UTH AFRICA. " While delayed, by Manenko's management, among the Balonda villages, a little to the south of the town of Shinte, we were well supplied by the villagers with sweet potatoes and green maize ; Sambanza went to his mother's village for supplies of other food. I was laboring under fever, and did not find it very dif- ficult to exercise patience with her whims; but it being Saturday, I thought we might as well go to the town for Sunday (15th). ' No ; her messenger must return from her uncle first.' Being sure that the answer of the uncle would be favorable, I thought we might go on at once, and not lose two days in the same spot. * No, it is our custom ; ' and everything else I could urge was answered in the genuine pertinacious lady style. She ground some meal for me with her own hands, and when she brought it told me she had actu- ally gone to a village and begged corn for the purpose. She said this with an air as if the inference must be drawn by even a stupid wdiite man : ' I know how to manage, don't IV It was refreshing to get food which could be eaten without producing the unpleasantness described by the Rev. John Newton, of St. Mary's, Woolnoth, London, when obliged to eat the same roots while a slave in the West Indies. The day (January 14), for a wonder, was fair, and the sun shone, so as to allow us to dry our clothing and other goods, many of which were mouldy and rotten from the long-continued damp. The guns rusted, in spite of being oiled cveiy evening. "During the night we were all awakened bj a ter- rific shriek from one of Manenko's ladies. She piped out so loud and long that we all imagined she had been UP THE LEEBA RIVER. 167 seized by a lion, and my men snatched up their arms, which they always place so as to be ready at a mo- ment's notice, and ran to the rescue ; but we found the alarm had been caused by one of the oxen thrust- ing his head into her hut and smelling her : she had put her hand on his cold, wet nose, and thought it wfs all over with her. " On Sunday afternoon messengers arrived from Shinte, expressing his approbation of the objects we had in view in our journey through the country, and that he was glad of the prospect of a way being opened by which white men might visit him, and allow him to purchase ornaments at pleasure. Ma- nenko now threatened in sport to go on, and I soon afterward perceived that what now seemed to me the dilly-dallying way of this lady was the proper mode of making acquaintance with the Balonda; and much of the favor with which I was received in different places was owing to my sending forward messengers to state the object of our coming before entering each town and village. When we came in sight of a village we sat down under the shade of a tree and sent for- ward a man to give notice who we were and what were our objects. The head man of the village then sent out his principal men, as Shinte now did, to bid us welcome and show us a tree under which we might sleep. Before I had profited by the rather tedious teaching of Manenko, I sometimes entered a village and created unintentional alarm. " Our friends informed us that Shinte would be highly honored by the presence of three white men in his town at once. Two others had sent forward 168 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. notice of their approach from another quarter (the west) ; could it be Barth or Krapf ? How pleasant to meet with Europeans in such an out-of-the-way region ! The rush of thoughts made me almost forget my fever. Are they of the same color as I am ? 4 Yes ; exactly so.' And have the same hair ? ' Is that hair \ we thought it was a wig ; we never saw the like before; this white man must be of the sort that lives in the sea ' Henceforth my men took the hint, and always sounded my praises as a true specimen of the variety of white men who live in the sea. l Only look at his hair; it is made quite straight by the sea- water ! ' " As the strangers had woolly hair like themselves, I had to give up the idea of meeting anything more European than tw r o half caste Portuguese, engaged in trading for slaves, ivory and bees'-wax. " After a short march on the 16th, we came to a most lovely valley about a mile and a half wide, and stretching away eastward up to a low prolongation of Monakadzi. A small stream meanders down the cen- tre of this pleasant green glen : and on a little rill, which flows into it from the western side, stands the town of Kabompo, or, as he likes best to be called, Shinte. (Lat. 12° 37' S., Long. 22° 47' E.) When Manenko thought the sun was high enough for us to make a lucky entrance, we found the town embowered in banana and other tropical trees having great expan- sion of leaf; the streets are straight, and present a complete contrast to those of the Bechuanas, which are all very tortuous. Here, too, we first saw native lints with square walls and round roofs. The fences or walls UP THE LEEBA RIVER. 169 of the courts which surround the huts are wonderfully straight, and made of upright poles a few inches apart, with strong grass or leafy bushes neatly woven between. In the courts were small plantations of tobacco, and a little solanaceous plant which the lialonda use as a rel- ish ; also sugar-cane and bananas. " We were honored next day with a grand recep- tion by Shinte about eleven o'clock. Sambanza claimed the honor of presenting us, Mancnko being slightly indisposed. The kotla, or place of audience, was about a hundred yards square, and two graceful specimens of a species of banian stood near one end ; under one of these sat Shinte, on a sort of throne covered with a leopard's skin. He had on a checked jacket, and a kilt of scarlet baize edged with green ; many strings of large beads hung from his neck, and his limbs were covered with iron and copper armlets and bracelets ; on his head he wore a helmet made of beads woven neatly together, and crowned with a great bunch of goose-feathers. Close to him sat three lads with large sheaves of arrows over their shoulders. " When we entered the kotla, the whole of Manen- ko's party saluted Shinte by clapping their hands, and Sambanza did obeisance bv rubbing his chest and arms with ashes. One of the trees being unoccupied, I re- treated to it for the sake of the shade, and my whole party did the same. We were now about forty yards from the chief, and could see the whole ceremony. The different sections of the tribe came forward in the same way that we did, the head man of each making obei- Bance with ashes which he carried with him for the pur- pose ; then came the soldiers, all armed to the teeth, run- 170 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. ning and shouting toward us, with their swords drawn, and their faces screwed up so as to appear as savage as possible, for the purpose, I thought, of trying whether they could not make us take to our heels. As we did not, they turned round toward Shinte and saluted him, then retired. When all had come and were seated, then began the curious capering usually seen in pichos. A man starts up. and imitates the most approved attitudes observed in actual fight, as throwing one javelin, receiv- ing another on the shield, springing to one side to avoid a third, running backward, or forward, leaping, etc. This over, Sambanza and the spokesman of Nyamoana stalked backward and forward in front of Shinte, and gave forth, in a loud voice, all they had been able to learn, either from myself or people, of my past history and connection with the Makololo ; the return of the captives; the wish to open the country to trade ; the Bible as a word from heaven ; the white man's desire for the tribes to live in peace : he ought to have taught the Makololo that first, for the Balonda never attacked them, yet they had assailed the Balonda : perhaps he is fibbing, perhaps not; they rather thought lie was; but as the Balonda had good hearts, and Shinte had never done harm to any one, he had better receive the white man well, and send him on his way. "When nine speakers had concluded their orations, Shinte stood up, and so did all the people, lie had maintained true African dignity of manner all the while, but my people remarked that he scarcely ever took liis eyes off me for a moment. About a thousand people were present, according to niv calculation, and three hundred soldiers. The sun had now become UP THE LEEBA RIVER. 171 hot ; and the scene ended by the Mambari discharging their gnns. " We were awakened the following night by a message from Shinte, requesting a visit at a very un- seasonable hour. As I was just in the sweating stage of an intermittent, and the path to the town lay through a wet valley, I declined going. Kolimbota, who knows their customs best, urged me to go; but, independent of sickness, I hated words of the night and deeds of darkness. 'I was neither a hyena nor a witch.' Kolimbota thought that we ou^ht to conform to their wishes in everything : I thought we ought to have some choice in the matter as well, which put him into high dudgeon. However, at ten next morning we went, and were led into the courts of Shinte, the walls of which were woven rods, all very neat and high. Many trees stood within the inclosure, and afforded a grateful shade. These had been planted for we saw some recently put in, with grass wound round the trunk to protect them from the sun. The otherwise waste corners of the streets were planted with sugar-cane and bananas, which spread their large light leaves over the walls. " The Ficus Indica tree, under which we now sat, had very .arge leaves, but showed its relationship to the Indian banian by sending down shoots toward the ground. Shinte soon came, and appeared a man of upward of fifty-live years of age, of frank and open countenance, and about the middle height. He seemed in good humor, and said he had expected yesterday * that a man who came from the gods w T ould have approached and talked to him.' That had been my 172 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. own intention in going to the reception ; but when we came and saw the formidable preparations, aid all his own men keeping at least forty yards off from him, 1 yielded to the solicitations of my men, and remained by the tree opposite to that under which he sat. His remark confirmed my previous belief that a frank, open, fearless, manner is the most winning with all these Africans. I stated the object of my journey and mission, and to all I advanced the old gentleman clap- ped his hands in approbation. He replied through a spokesman ; then all the company joined in the re- sponse by clapping of hands, too. " After the more serious business was over, I asked if he had ever seen a white man before. He replied, 'Never; you are the very first I have seen with a white skin and straight hair; your clothing, too, is different from any we have ever seen.' They had been visited by native Portuguese and Mambari only. " On learning from some of the people that 'Shinte's mouth was bitter for want of tasting ox- flesh,' I presented him with an ox, to his great de- light; and, as his country is so well adapted for cattle, I advised him to begin a trade in cows with the Makololo. He was pleased with the idea, and when we returned from Loanda, we found that he had prof ited by the hint, for he had got three, and one of them justified my opinion cf the country, for it wa* more like a prize heifer for fatness than any we had seen in Africa. He soon afterward sent us a basket of green maize boiled, another of manioc-meal, and a small fowl. UP THE LEEBA RIVER. 173 " I was awakened at an early hour by a messenger from Sliinte ; but the thirst of a raging fever being just assuaged by the bursting forth of a copious per- spiration, I declined going for a few hours. Violent action of the heart all the way to the town did not predispose me to be patient with the delay which then occurred, probably on account of the divination being unfavorable: 'They could not find Shinte.' When I returned to bed, another message was re- ceived, ' Shinte wished to say all lie had to tell me at once.' This was too tempting an offer, so we went, and he had a fowl ready in his hand to present, also a basket of manioc-meal, and a calabash of mead. Re- ferring to the constantly-recurring attacks of fever, he remarked that it was the only thing which would pre- vent a successful issue to my journey, for he had men to guide me who knew all the paths which led to the white men. He had himself travelled far when a young man. On asking what he would recommend for the fever, ' Drink plenty of the mead, and as it gets in, it will drive the fever out.' It was rather 6trong, and I suspect he liked the remedy pretty well, even though he had no fever. " Shinte was most anxious to see the pictures of the magic lantern ; but fever had so weakening an ef- fect, and I had such violent action of the heart, with buzzing in the ears, that I could not go for several days ; when I did go for the purpose, he had his prin- cipal men and the same crowd of court-beauties near him as at the reception. The first picture exhibited was Abraham about to slaughter his son Isaac ; it was shown as large as life, and the uplifted knife was in 174 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. the act of striking the lad; the Balonda men re- marked that the picture was much more like a god than the things of wood or clay they worshipped. I explained that this man was the first of a race to whom God had given the Bible we now held, and that among his children onr Saviour appeared. The ladies listened with silent awe; but, when I moved the slide, the uplifted dagger moving toward them, they thought it was to be sheathed in their bodies in- stead of Isaac's. ' Mother ! mother ! ' all shouted at once, and off they rushed helter-skelter, tumbling pell- mell over each other, and over the little idol-huts and tobacco-bushes : we could not get one of them back again. Shinte, however, sat bravely through the whole, and afterward examined the instrument with interest. An explanation was always added after each time of showing its powers, so that no one should imagine there was aught supernatural in it ; and had Mr. Murray, who kindly brought it from Eng- land, seen its popularity among both Makololo and Balonda, he would have been gratified with the di- rection his generosity then took. It was the only mode of instruction I was ever pressed to repeat The people came long distances for the express pur- pose of seeing the objects and hearing the explana- tions." Livingstone remained ten days in the town of Shinte, resting his party, and making preparations tor the journe) westward towards the Portuguese terri- tory. This was likely to be the most hazardous part Df the trip, since the natives themselves were not acquainted with the regions beyond those they in- UP THE LEEBA RIVER. 175 habited. The chief interposed no obstacle, for half- breed traders from Loando sometimes reached his town ; but he could only furnish guides for a short distance. " As the last proof of friendship," Livingstone says, " Shinte came into my tent, though it could scarcely contain more than one person, looked at all the curi osities, the quicksilver, the looking-glass, books, hair brushes, comb, watch, etc., etc., with the greatest inter- est; then closing the tent, so that none of his own people might see the extravagance of which he was about to be guilty, he drew out from his clothing a string of beads, and the end of a conical shell, which is considered, in regions far from the sea, of as great value as the Lord Mayor's badge is in London. He hung it round, my neck, and said, * There, now you have a proof of my friendship.' M My men informed me that these shells are so highly valued in this quarter, as evidences of distinc- tion, that for two of them a slave might be bought, and five would be considered a handsome price for an elephant's tusk worth ten pounds. At our last in- terview old Shinte pointed out our principal guide, Tntemese, a man about fifty, who was, he said, ordered to remain by us till we should reach the sea ; that I had now left Sekeletu far behind, and must henceforth look to Shinte alone for aid, and that it would always be most cheerfully rendered. This was only a poiite way of expressing his wishes for my success. It was the good words only of the guides which were to aid ma from the next chief, Katema, on to the sea ; they were to turn back on reaching him ; but he gave a good sup- 176 TRA VEL S IN SO U Til A FRICA . ply of food for the journey before us, and, after men- tioning as a reason for letting us go even now that no one could say we had been driven away from the town, since we had been several days with him, he gave a most hearty salutation, and we parted with the w* that God might bless him." CHAPTER XI. Livingstone's journey across the con tinent. IV. FROM SHINTE TO LOANDA. THE party left the town of Shinte on the 26th of January, with eight of the chiefs men to assist in carrying their luggage. We continue the narrative in Livingstone's words : " We passed, in a northerly direction, down the lovely valley on which the town stands, then went a little to the west through pretty open forest, and slept at a village of Balonda. In the morning we had a fine range of green hills, called Saloisho, on our right, and were 'informed that they were rather thickly in- habited by the people of Shinte, who worked in iron, the ore of which abounds in these hills. " The country through which we passed possessed <;he same general character of flatness and forest that we noticed before. The soil is dark, with a tinge of red — in some places it might be called red — and ap- peared very fertile. Every valley contained villages of twenty or thirty huts, with gardens of manioc, which here is looked upon as the staff of life. Very little labor is required for its cultivation. " Our chief guide, Intemese, sent orders to all the villages around our route that Shinte's friends must have abundance of provisions. Our progress was 12 178 TRA VELS IN SO UTH AFRICA. impeded by the time requisite for communicating the chiefs desire and consequent preparation of meal. We received far more food from Shinte's people than from himself. Kapende, for instance, presented two large baskets of meal, three of manioc roots steeped and dried in the sun and ready to be converted into tlour, three fowls, and seven eggs, with three smoke- dried fishes ; and others gave with similar liberality. I gave to the head men small bunches of my stock of beads, with an apology that we were now on our way to the market for these goods. The present was al- ways politely received. "We had an opportunity of observing that our guides had much more etiquette than any of the tribes farther south. They gave us food, but would not par- take of it when we had cooked it, nor would they eat their own food in our presence. When it was cooked they retired into a thicket and ate their porridge; then all stood up, and clapped their hands, and praised Inteinese for it. The Makololo, who are accustomed to the most free-and-easy manners, held out handfuls of what they had cooked to any of the Balonda near, but they refused to taste. They are very punctilious in their manners to each other. Each hut has its own fire, and when it goes out they make it afresh for themselves rather than take it from a neighbor, I believe much of this arises from superstitions fears. In the deep, dark forests near each village, as aire mentioned, you see idols intended to represent the human head or a lion, or a crooked stick Bin eared with medicine, or simply a small pot of medicine in a little shed, or miniature huts with little mounds of earth FROM SHINTE TO LOANDA. 179 in them. But in the darker recesses we meet with human faces cut in the bark of trees, the outlines of which, with the beards, closely resemble those seen on Egyptian monuments." After a journey of five days they reached the Leeba river, which Livingstone found to be considerably smaller than at the point where he left it. A village on the bank lent his men two canoes for the crossing, which occupied four hours, although the stream was only about a hundred yards wide. The latitude of the point was 12° 6' S. Beyond the Leeba, they came upon a plain, twenty miles wide, and flooded with water. The heavy tropical rains continued, and the path for several days was such a succession of quag- mires and pools that their progress w r as very slow. At night they were obliged to seek some little hillock or mound, above the general inundation, for an en- campment. This region is threaded by many branches of the Leeba, some of which, as there were no canoes, the party was obliged to ford, the water often covering all of the oxen except their lifted heads. Livingstone was obliged to carry his watch in his arm-pit, as the only place where it could be kept dry. The guides furnished by Shinte had orders to conduct him to the town of a chief named Katema, and on the 7th of Feb- ruary, he reached a village belonging to that chiefs brother. The latter said that the white man was wel- come, but was much disturbed by the presence of the Makololo. However, he seemed much more anxious to receive presents than to furnish provisions. For five or six days longer the party were led, 1 80 TRA VELS IN SO UTH AFRICA. through the tricks of Shinte's guide, who wished to derive some profit for himself from the journey, from one village to another. Fortunately, some of the chiefs were more generous than the first, and the men were al last tolerably well supplied with food. On the 13th of February they crossed the river Lotembwa, the last of the affluents of the Leeba, after which — to return to Livingstone's narrative — " we travelled about eight miles, and came to Katema's straggling town (lat. 11° 35' S., long. 22° 27 ' E.). It is more a collection of vi Pages than a town. We were led out about half a mile from the houses, that we might make for our- selves the best lodging we could of the trees and grass, while Intemese was taken to Katema to undergo the usual process of pumping as to our past conduct and professions. Katema soon afterward sent a handsome present of food. "Next morning we had a formal presentation, and found Katema seated on a sort of throne, with about three hundred men on the ground around, and thirty women, who were said to be his wives, close behind him. The main body of the people were seated in a semicircle, at a distance of fifty yards. Each party had its own head-man stationed at a little distance in front, and, when beckoned by the chief, came near him as councilors. Intemese gave our history, and Katema placed sixteen large baskets of meal before us, half-a-dozen fowls, and a dozen eg and expressed regret that we had slept hungry: he did not like any stranger to suffer want in his town; ■and added, 'Go home, and cook and eat, and you wiL then be in a fit state to speak to me at an audience I FROM SHINTE TO LOANDA. 181 will give you to-morrow.' He was busily engaged in hearing the statements of a large body of fine young men who had fled from Kangenke, chief of Lobale, on account of his selling their relatives to the native Portuguese who frequent his country. Katema is a tall man, about forty years of age, and his head was ornamented with a helmet of beads and leathers. He had on a snuff-brown coat, with a broad band of tinsel down the arms, and carried in his hand a large tail made of the caudal extremities of a number of gnus. This has charms attached to it, and he continued waving it in front of himself all the time we were there. He seemed in good spirits, laughing heartily several times. This is a good sign, for a man who shakes his sides with mirth is seldom difficult to deal with. When we rose to take leave, all rose with us, as at Shinte's. " Returning next morning, Katema addressed me thus : ' I am the great Moene (lord) Katema, the fel- low of Matiamvo. There is no one in the country equal to Matiamvo and me. I have always lived here, and my forefathers too. There is the house in which my father lived. You found no human skulls near the place where you are encamped. I never killed any of the traders ; they all come to me. I am the great Moene Katema, of whom you have heard.' He looked as if he had fallen asleep tipsy, and dreamed of his greatness. On explaining my objects to htm, he promptly pointed out three men who would be our guides, and explained that the north-west path was the most direct, and that by which all traders came, but that the water at present standing on the plains would 182 'J *A VELS IN SO V Til AFRICA. reach up to the loins ; lie would therefore send us by a more northerly route, which no trader had yet traversed. This was more suited to our wishes, for we never found a path safe that had been trodden by slave-traders. " We presented a few articles, which pleased him highly : a small shawl, a razor, three bunches of beads, some buttons, and a powder-horn. Apologizing for the insignificance of the gift, I wished to know what J could bring him from Loanda, saying, not a largo thing, but something small. He laughed heartily at the limitation, and replied, ' Everything of the white people would be acceptable, and he would receive any thing thankfully ; but the coat he then had on was old, and he would like another.' I introduced the subject of the Bible, but one of the old councilors broke in, told all he had picked up from the Mambari, and glided off into several other subjects. It is a misery to speak through an interpreter, as I was now forced to do. With a body of men like mine, com- posed as they were of six different tribes, and all speaking the language of the Bechuanas, there was no difficulty in communicating on common subjects with any tribe we came to; but doling out a story in which they felt no interest, and which I understood only suf- ficiently well to perceive that a mere abridgement was given, was uncommonly slow work. Neither could Katema's attention be arrested, except by compli- ments, of which they have always plenty to bestow as well as receive. We wore Grangers, and knew that, as Makololo, we had not the best of characters, yet hia treatment of us was wonderfully good and liberal. FROM SHINTE TO LOANDA. [83 " I complimented him on the possession of cattle, and pleased him by telling him how he might milk the cows. He has a herd of about thirty, really splen- did animals, all reared from two which he bought from the Balobale when he was young. They are gener- illy of a white color, and are quite wild, running off with graceful ease like a herd of elands on the ap- proach of a stranger. They excited the unbounded admiration of the Makololo, and clearly proved that the country was well adapted for them. When Katema wishes to slaughter one, he is obliged to shoot it as if it were a buffalo. " Katema promised us the aid of some of his people as carriers, but his rule is not very stringent or effi- cient, for they refused to turn out for the work. They were Balobale ; and he remarked on their disobedi- ence that, though he received them as fugitives, they did not feel grateful enough to obey, and if they con- tinued rebellious he must drive them back whence they came ; but there is little fear of that, as all the chiefs are excessively anxious to collect men in great numbers around them. These Balobale would not go, though our guide Shakatwala ran after some of them with a drawn sword. " On Sunday, the 19th, both I and several of our party were seized with fever, and I could do nothing but toss about in my little tent, with the thermometer above 00°, though this was the beginning of winter, and my men made as much shade as possible by planting branches of trees all around and over it. Wo have, for the first time in my experience in Africa, had a cold wind from the north. All the winds from that 184 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. quarter are hot, and those from the south are cold, but they seldom blow from either direction. " We were glad to get away the next day, though not on account of any scarcity of food ; for my men, by giving small presents of meat as an earnest of their sin cerity, formed many friendships with the people of Ka- tema. We went about four or five miles in a N.N.W. direction, then two in a westerly one, and came round the small end of Lake Dilolo. It seemed, as far as we could at this time discern, to be like a river a quarter of a mile wide. It is abundantly supplied with fish and hippopotami ; the broad part, which we did not this time see, is about three miles wide, and the lake is almost seven or eight long. If it be thought strange that I did not go a few miles to see the broad part, which, according to Katema, had never been vis- ited by any of the traders, it must be remembered that in consequence of fever I had eaten nothing for two entire days, and, instead of sleep, the whole of the nights were employed in incessant drinking of water, and I was now so glad to get x>n in the journey and see 6ome of my fellow fever-patients crawling along, that I could not brook the delay, which astronomical obser- vations for accurately determining the geographic*] position of this most interesting spot would have occa- sioned." Beyond this lake, they crossed a marshy plain, twenty miles in breadth. The heavy rains still contin- ued, and the feet of the men became sore from wading in water and mud among the Strong grass. The coun- try which followed was under the rule of another chief, whom, however, Livingstone did not wait to see. From FROM SHINTE TO LOANDA. ) 85 this point commenced the territories of small, scattered and often hostile tribes, which have been demoralized by the slave-trade. "On reaching unflooded lands beyond the plain, we found the villages there acknowledged the anther- ity of the chief named Katende, and we discovered, also, to our surprise, that the almost level plain we had pas- sed forms the water- shed between the southern and northern rivers, for we had now T entered a district in which the rivers flowed in a northerly direction into the Kasai or Loke, near to which we now were, while the rivers we had hitherto crossed were all running southward. Having met with kind treatment and aid at the first village, Katema's guides returned, and we were led to the N.N.W. by the inhabitants, and de- scended into the very first really deep valley we had seen since leaving Kolobeng. A stream ran along the bottom of a slope of three or four hundred yards from the plains above." This was crossed by a bridge, and also many of the following streams, and at some of them the natives demanded toll. "Reaching the village of Kabinje, in the evening he sent us a present of tobacco, Mutokuane or 'bang' (Cannahis sativa), and maize, by the man who went forward to announce our arrival, and a message express- ing satisfaction at the prospect of having trade with the zoast. The westing we were making brought us among people who are frecpiently visited by the Mam- ' bari as slave-dealers. This trade causes bloodshed ; for when a poor family is selected as the victims, it is necessary to get rid of the older members of it, because they are supposed to be able to give annoyance to the 186 TRA VELS IN SO UTH AFRICA. chief afterward by means of enchantments. The belief in the power of charms for good or evil produces not only honesty, but a great amount of gentle dealing. " When we wished to move on, Ivabinje refused a guide to the next village because he was at war with it; but, after much persuasion he consented, provided that the guide should be allowed to return as soon as he came in sight of the enemy's village. This we felt to be a misfortune, as the people all suspect a man who comes telling his own tale ; but there being no help for it, we went on and found the head man of a village on the rivulet Kalomba, called Kangenke, a very differ- ent man from what his enemy represented. We found, too, that the idea of buying and selling took the place of giving for friendship. As I had nothing with which to purchase food except a parcel of beads which were preserved for worse times, I began to fear that we should soon be compelled to suffer more from hunger than we had done. The people demanded gunpow- der for everything. If we had possessed any quantity of that article, we should have got on well, for here it is of great value. " Kangenke promptly furnished guides on the '2 7th of February, so we went briskly on a short distance, and came to a part of the Kasye, Kasai, or Loke, where lie had appointed two canoes to convey us acr This is a most beautiful river, and very much like the Clyde in Scotland. The slope of the valley down to the stream is about five hundred yards, and finely wooded. It is, perhaps, one hundred yards broad, and was winding slowly from side to side in the beautiful green glen, in a course to the north and north-east. Iu FROM SHINTE TO LOANDA. 187 both the directions from which it came and to which it went it seemed to be alternately embowered in syl- van vegetation, or rich meadows covered with tail grass. The men pointed out its course, and said, * Though you sail along it for months, you will turn without seeing the end of it.' " We were now in want of food, for, to the greal surprise of my companions, the people of Kangenke gave nothing except by way of sale, and charged the most exorbitant prices for the little meal and manioc they brought. The only article of barter my men had was a little fat saved from the ox we slaughtered at Katema's, so I was obliged to give them a portion of the stock of beads. One day of westing brought us from the Kasai to near the village of Katende, and we saw that we were in a land where no hope could be entertained of getting supplies of animal food, for one of our guides caught a light-blue colored mole and two mice for his supper. The care with which he wrapped them up in a leaf and slung them on his spear told that we could not hope to enjoy any larger game. We saw no evidence of any animals besides ; and, on coming to the villages beyond this, we often saw boys and girls engaged in digging up these tiny quadru- peds. %i Katende sent for me on the day following our arrival, and, being quite willing to visit him, I walked, for this purpose, about three miles from our encamp- ment. When we approached the village we were desired to enter a hut, and, as it was raining at the time, we did so. After a long time spent in giving and receiving messages from the great man, we were 188 TRA VELS IN SO UTH AFRICA. told that lie wanted either a man, a tusk, beads, copper rings, or a shell, as payment for leave to pass through his country. No one, we were assured, was allowed that liberty, or even to behold him, without something of the sort being presented. Having humbly ex- plained our circumstances, and that he could not expect to ' catch a humble cow by the horns' — a prov- erb similar to ours that 'you can't draw milk out of a stone' — we were told to go home, and he would speak again to us next day. I could not avoid a hearty laugh at the cool impudence of the savage, and made the best of my way home in the still pouring rain. My men were rather nettled at this want of hospi- tality, but, after talking over the matter with one o( Katende's servants, he proposed that some small article should be given, and an attempt made to please Ka- tende. I turned out my shirts, and selected the worst one as a sop for him, and invited Katende to come and choose anything else I had." It was with some difficulty that the party got away from this unfriendly and avaricious chief. When the villages were fairly behind them, the native guides declared that they did not know the country, and left Livingstone to push forward at random in the direc- tion of Loanda. The first. day they came to a valley, a mile wide, entirely covered with water to the depth of four or live icct^ — an experience which was fre- quently renewed during the following days. One of these adventures is thus described : i% In the afternoon we came to another stream, fiuana Loke (or child of Loke), with a bridge over it. The men had to swim off to each end of the bridge, FROM SHINTE TO LOANDA. 189 And when on it were breast deep ; some preferred holding on by the tails of the oxen the whole way across. I intended to do this, too ; but, riding to the deep part, before I could dismount and seize the helm the ox dashed oft' with his companions, and his body sank so deep that I failed in my attempt even to catch the blanket belt", and if I pulled the bridle the ox seemed as if he would come backward upon me, so I struck out for the opposite bank alone. My poor fellows were dreadfully alarmed when they saw me parted from the cattle, and about twenty of them made a simultaneous rush into the water for my res- cue, and just as I reached the opposite bank one seized my arm, and another threw his around my body. When I stood up, it was most gratifying to see them all struggling toward me. Some had leaped oft' the bridge, and allowed their cloaks to float down the stream. Part of my goods, abandoned in the hurry, were brought up from the bottom after I was safe. Great was the pleasure expressed when they found that I could swim, like themselves, without the aid of a tail, and I did and do feel grateful to these poor heathens for the promptitude with which they dashed in to save, as they thought, my life. I found my clothes cumbersome in the water ; they could swim quicker from being naked. They swim like dogs, nof frog-fashion, as we do. " The amount of population in the central parts of the country may be called large only as compared with the Cape Colony or the Bechuana country. The imltivated land is as nothing compared with what might be brought under the plough. There are flowing 190 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. streams in abundance, which, were it necessary, could be turned to the purpose of irrigation with but little labor. Miles of fruitful country are now lying abso- lutely waste, for there is not even game to eat off the fine pasturage, and to recline under the evergreen, shady groves which we are ever passing in our pro- gress. The people who inhabit the central region are not all quite black in color. Many incline to that of bronze, and others are as light in hue as the Bush- men, who, it may be remembered, afford a proof that heat alone does not cause blackness, but that heat and moisture combined do very materially deepen the color." On the 4th of March they reached the country of the Chiboque, a tierce, plundering tribe, who would have attacked them but for Livingstone's courage and 6elf-possession. He finally succeeded in making a temporary truce by the present of one of his few re- maining oxen. The supplies were growing small, and the insolent demands of the natives increased, so that it became a question whether he could succeed in crossing the comparatively narrow strip of territory which separated him from the Portuguese outposts. " We were informed," says Livingstone, " that the people on the west of the Chiboque were familiar with the visits of slave-traders ; and it was the opinion of our guides that so many of my companions would be demanded from me, in the same manner as these people had done, that I should reach the coast without u single attendant ; I therefore resolved to alter our course and strike away to the N.N.E., in the hope that at some point farther north I might find an exit FROM SH1NTE TO LOANDA. 191 to the Portuguese settlement of Cassange. We pro- ceeded at first due north, with the Kasabi villages on our right, and the Kasau on our left. During the first twenty miles we crossed many small, but now swollen streams, having the usual boggy banks, and wherevef the water had stood for any length of time it was dis- colored with rust of iron. We saw a 'nakonfj' ante- lope one day, a rare sight in this quarter ; and many new and pretty flowers adorned the valleys. "In passing through the narrow paths of the for- ests I had an opportunity of observing the peculiarities of my ox ' Sinbad.' He had a softer back than the others, but a much more intractable temper. His horns were bent downward and hung loosely, so he could do no harm with them : but as we wended our way slowly along the narrow path, he would suddenly dart aside. A string tied to a stick put through the cartilage of the nose serves instead of a bridle: if you jerk this back, it makes him run fester on ; if you pull it to one side, he allows the nose and head to go, but keeps the opposite eye directed to the forbidden spot, and goes in spite of you. The only way he can be brought to a stand is by a stroke with a wand across the nose. When Sinbad ran in below a climber stretched over the path so low that I could not stoop under it, I was dragged off and came down on the e own of my head ; and he never allowed an opportu- nity of the kind to pass without trying to inflict a kick, as if I neither had nor deserved his love. " On Friday, the 23d of March, we came to a vil- lage of civil people on the banks of a river called the Loajima, and we were wet all day in consequence 1 92 TRA VELS IN SO UTH AFRICA. of crossing it. The bridges over it, and another stream which we crossed at midday, were submerged, as we have hitherto invariably found, by a flood of perfectly clear water. At the second ford we were met by a hostile party who refused us further passage. I ordered my men to proceed in the same direction we had been pursuing, but our enemies spread themselves out in front of us with loud cries. Our numbers were about equal to theirs this time, so I moved on at the head of my men. Some ran off to other villages, or back to their own village, on pretense of getting ammunition ; others called out that all traders came to them, and that we must do the same. As these people had plenty of iron-headed arrows and some guns, when we came to the edge of the forest I or- dered my men to put the luggage in our centre; and, if our enemies did not fire, to cut down some young trees and make a screen as quickly as possible, but do nothing to them except in case of actual attack. I then dismounted, and, advancing a little toward our principal opponent, showed him how easily I could kill him, but pointed upward, saying, ' I fear God.' He did the same, placing his hand on his heart, point- ing upward, and saying, ' I fear to kill ; but come to our village; come — do come.' At this juncture, the old head man, Ionga Panza, a venerable negro, came up, and I invited him and all to be seated, that we might talk the matter oyer, Ionga Panza soon let us know that he thought himself very ill-treated in being passed by. As most skirmishes arise from misunder- standing, this might have been a serious one ; for, like all the tribes near the Portuguese settlements, people FROM SHINTE TO LOANDA. 193 here imagine that they have a right to demand pay- ment from every one who passes through the country ; and now, though Ionga Panza was certainly no match for my men, yet they were determined not to forego their right without a struggle. I removed with my men to the vicinity of the village, thankful that no accident had as yet brought us into actual collision. " Ionga Panza's sons agreed to act as guides into the territory of the Portuguese if I would give them the shell given by Shinte. I was strongly averse to this, and especially to give it beforehand, but yielded to the entreaty of my people to appear as if showing confidence in these hopeful youths. They urged that they wished to leave the shell with their wives, as a sort of payment to them for enduring their husband's absence so long. Having delivered the precious shell, we went west-by-nortli to the river Chikapa, which here (lat. 10° 22 ' S.) is forty or fifty yards wide, and at present was deep ; it was seen flowing over a rocky, broken cataract with great noise about half a mile above our ford. We were ferried over in a canoe, made out of a single piece of bark sewed together at the ends, and having sticks placed in it at different parts to act as ribs. " Next morning our guides went only about a mile, and then told us they would return home. I expected this when paying them beforehand, in accordance with the entreaties of the Makololo, who are rather ignorant of the world. Yery energetic remonstrances were ad- dressed to the guides, but they slipped off one by ono in the thick forest through which we were passing, and I was glad to hear my companions coming to the con- 13 194 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. elusion that, as we were now in parts visited "by trad- ers, we did not require the guides, whose chief use had been to prevent misapprehension of our objects in the minds of the villagers. The country was somewhat more undulating now than it had been, and several tine small streams flowed in deep woody dells. The trees are very tall and straight, and the forests gloomy and damp ; the ground in these solitudes is quite cov- ered with yellow and brown mosses, and light-colored lichens clothe all the trees. " The village on the river Kweelo, at which we spent Sunday, was that of a civil, lively old man, called Sakandala, who offered no objections to our progress. We found we should soon enter on the territory of the Bashinje (Chinge of the Portuguese). Rains and fever, as usual, helped to impede our progress until we were put on the path which leads from Cassange and Bihe to Matiamvo, by a head man named Kamboela. This was a well-beaten footpath, and soon after entering upon it we met a party of half-caste traders from Bihe, who confirmed the information we had already got of this path leading straight to Cassange. They kindly presented my men with some tobacco, and marveled greatly when they found that I had never been able to teach myself to smoke. " As we were now alone, and sure of being on the way to the abodes of civilization, we went on briskly. " On the 30th we came to a sudden descent from the high land, indented by deep, narrow valleys, over which we had lately been travelling. It is generally so steep that it can only be descended at particular points, and even there I was obliged to dismount, FROM SHINTE TO LOANDA. 195 though so weak that I had to be led by my compan- ions to prevent ray toppling over in walking down. It was annoying to feel myself so helpless, for I never liked to see a man, either sick or well, giving in effeminately. Below ns lay the valley of the Quango. If you sit on the spot where Mary Queen of Scots viewed the battle of Langside, and look down on the vale of Clyde, you may see in miniature the glorious sight which a much greater and richer valley presented to our view. It is about a hundred miles broad, clothed with dark forest, except where the light green grass covers meadow- lands on the Quango, which here and there glances out in the sun as it wends its way to the north. The opposite side of this great valley appears like a range of lofty mountains, and the descent into it about a mile, which, measured perpendicularly, may be from a thousand to twelve hundred feet. Emerging from the gloomy forests of Londa, this magnificent prospect made us all feel as if a weight had been lifted off our eyelids. A cloud was passing across the middle of the valley, from which rolling thunder pealed, while above all was glorious sunlight ; and when we went down to the part where we saw it passing, we found that a very heavy thunder-shower had fallen under the path of the cloud ; and the bottom of the valley, which from above seemed quite smooth, we discovered to be intersected and furrowed by great numbers of deep-cut streams. They now entered the territory of the Bashinge, the chief of whom sent a demand for a man, an ox, or an elephant's tusk. This was refused, and of course no food could be expected. The chief afterwards came himself and after a long conversation threatened to pre- 196 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. vent the further progress of the party. The next morning they started very early, in a heavy rain, pass- ing the village without molestation, and kept on, in a half-famished condition. "Hunger," Livingstone remarks, "has a powerful effect on the temper. When we had got a good meal of meat, we could all bear the petty annoyances of these borderers on the more civilized region in front with equanimity : but having suffered considerably of late, we were all rather soured in our feelings, and not unfrequently I overheard my companions remark in their own tongue, in answer to threats of attack, 4 That's what we want : only begin them ; ' or with clenched teeth they would exclaim to each other, ' These things have never travelled, and they do not know what men are.' The worrying, of which I give only a slight sketch, had considerable influence on my own mind, and more especially as it was impossible to make any allowance for the Bashinje, such as I was willing to award to the Chiboque. They saw that we had nothing to give, nor would they be benefited in the least by enforcing the impudent order to return whence we had come. They were adding insult to in- jury, and this put us all into a fighting spirit, and, as nearly as we could judge, we expected to be obliged to cut our way through the Bashinje." On reaching the river before them, which the nntives called the Quango (Congo J), on the 4th of* April, they were met by the same natives with the nsual fierce demand for presents. After the Makololo bad stripped themselves of their copper rings, but in vain, Livingstone determined to cross the river in FROM SHINTE TO LOANDA. 197 spite of their opposition. He fell in with a Portu- guese half-caste, Cypriano by name, who assisted him across the stream. On the opposite bank the tribes were subjects of the Portuguese, and all difficulties and dangers were over. "We were detained by rains and a desire to ascer- tain our geographical position till Monday, the 10th," lie continues, " and only got the latitude 9° 50 ; S. ; and, after three days' pretty hard travelling through the long grass, reached Cassange, the farthest inland sta- tion of the Portuguese in Western Africa. We crossed several fine little streams running into the Quango ; and as the grass continued to tower about two feet over our heads, it generally obstructed our view of the adjacent country, and sometimes hung over the path, making one side of the body wet with the dew every morning, or, when it rained, kept me w T et during the whole day. Ianade my entrance in a somewhat forlorn state as to clothing among our Por- tuguese allies. The first gentleman I met in the vil- lage asked if I had a passport, and said it was neces- sary to take me before the authorities. As I was in the same state of mind in which individuals are who commit a petty depredation in order to obtain the shelter and food of a prison, I gladly accompanied him to the house of the commandant or Chefe, Senhor de Silva Pego. Having shown my passport to this gen- tleman, he politely asked me to supper, and, as we had eaten nothing except the farina of Cypriano from the Quango to this, I suspect I appeared particularly ravenous to the other gentlemen around the table. They seemed, however, to understand my position 1 98 TRA VELS IN SO U Til AFRICA. pretty well, from having all travelled extensively themselves; had they not been present, I might have put some in my pocket to eat by night ; for, after fever, the appetite is excessively keen, and manioc is one of the most unsatisfying kinds of food. Captain Antonio Rodrigues Neves then kindly invited me to take up my abode in his house. Next morning this generous man arrayed me in decent clothing, and con- tinued during the whole period of my stay to treat me as if I had been his brother. He not only at- tended to my wants, but also furnished food for my famishing party free of charge. "The village of Cassange (pronounced Kassanje) is composed of thirty or forty traders' houses, scat- tered about without any regularity, on an elevated flat spot in the great Quango or Cassange valley. They are built of wattle and daub, and surrounded by plantations of manioc, maize, etc. Behind them there are usually kitchen gardens, in which the com- mon European vegetables, as potatoes, peas, cabbages, onions, tomatoes, etc., etc., grow. Guavas and ba- nanas appear, from the size and abundance of the trees, to have been introduced many years ago, while the land was still in the possession of the natives ; but pine-apples, orange, fig, and cashew trees have but lately been tried. There are about forty Portuguese traders in this district, all of whom are officers in the militia, and many of them have become rich from adopting the plan of sending out pombeiros, or native traders, with large quantities of goods, to trade in the more remote parts of the country. "The latitude and longitude of Cassange, the most FROM SHINTE TO LOANDA. 199 easterly station of the Portuguese in Western Africa, is lat. 9° 37' S., and long. 17° 49' E; consequently we had still about 300 miles to traverse before we could reach the coast. We had a black militia corporal as a guide. He was a native of Ambaca, and, like nearly all the inhabitants of that district, known by the name of Ambakistas, could both read and write. II e had three slaves with him, and was carried by them in a 'tipoia,' or hammock slung to a pole. His slaves were young, and unable to convey him far at a time, but he was considerate enough to walk except when we came near to a village. He then mounted his tip- oia and entered the village in state ; his departure was made in the same manner, and he continued in the hammock till the village was out of sight. It was interesting to observe the manners of our soldier-guide. Two slaves were always employed in carrying his tip- oia, and the third carried a wooden box, about three feet long, containing his writing materials, dishes, and clothing. He was cleanly in all his ways, and, though quite black himself, when he soolded any one of his own color, 'abused him as a 'negro.' When he wanted to purchase any article from a village, he would sit down, mix a little gunpowder as ink, and write a note in a neat hand to ask the price, addressing it to the shopkeeper with the rather pompous title, 'Illustris- simo Senhor' (Most Illustrious Sir). This is the in- variable mode of address throughout Angola. " Having left Cassange on the 21st of April, we passed across the remaining portion of the excessively fertile valley to the foot of Tala Mungongo. We grossed a tine little stream called the Lui on the 22d, 200 TRA VELS IN SO UTH AFRICA. and another named the Lnare on the 2-ith, then slept at the bottom of the height, which is from a thousand to fifteen hundred feet. The clouds came float! og along the valley, and broke against the sides of the ascent, and the dripping rain on the tall grass made the slaps in the face it gave, when the hand or a stick was not held up before it, anything but agreeable. This edge of the valley is exactly like the other; jut- ting spurs and defiles give the red ascent the same serrated appearance as that which we descended from the highlands of Londa. " It would have afforded me pleasure to have culti- vated a more intimate acquaintance with the inhabi- tants of this part of the country, but the vertigo pro- duced by frequent fevers made it as much as I could do to stick on the ox and crawl along in misery. In crossing the Lombe, my ox Sinbad, in the indulgence of his propensity to strike out a new path for himself, plunged overhead into a deep hole, and so soused me that I was obliged to move on to dry my clothing, without calling on the Europeans who live on the bank. This I regretted, for all the Portuguese were very kind, and like the Boers placed in similar circum- stances, feel it a slight to be passed without a word of salutation. But we went on to a spot where orange- trees had been planted by the natives themselves, and where abundance of that refreshing fruit was exposed for sale. " On entering the district of Ambaca, we found the landscape enlivened by the appearance of lofty moun- tains in the distance, the grass comparatively short, and the whole country at this time looking gay and verdant FROM SHINTE TO LOANDA. 201 On our left we saw certain rocks of the same nature with those of Pungo Andongo, and which closely re- semble the Stonehenge group on Salisbury Plain, only the stone pillars here are of gigantic size. This region is all wonderfully fertile, famed for raising cattle, and all kinds of agricultural produce, at a cheap rate. " We were most kindly received by the command- ant of Ambaca, Arsenio de Carpo, who spoke a little English. He recommended wine for my debility, and here I took the first srl ass of that beverage I had taken in Africa. I felt much refreshed, and could then realize and meditate on the weakening effects of the fever. They were curious even to myself; for, though I had tried several times since we left Ngio to take lunar observations, I could not avoid confusion of time and distance, neither could I hold the instrument steady, nor perform a simple calculation; hence many of the positions of this part of the route were left till my return from Loanda. Often, on getting up in the mornings, I found my clothing as wet from perspira- tion as if it had been dipped in water." The journey was slow, on account of Livingstone's condition, which the kindness of the Portuguese offi- cials in the interior could not relieve. It was nearly a month before he reached the station of Golungo Alto, among the last mountains. Here he rested a few days, and then somewhat refreshed, started foi Loanda on the 24th of May. " Farther on we left the mountainous country, and, as we descended toward the west coast, saw the lands assuming a more sterile, uninviting aspect. On our right ran the river Senza, which nearer the sea takes 202 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. the name of Bengo. It is about fifty yards broad, and navigable for canoes. The low plains adjacent to its banks are protected from inundation by embank- ments, and the population is entirely occupied in raising food and fruits for exportation to Loanda by means of canoes. The banks are infested by myri- ads of the most ferocious musquitos I ever met. Not one of our party could get a snatch of sleep. I was taken into the house of a Portuguese, but was soon glad to make my escape and lie across the path on the lee side of the fire, where the smoke blew over my body. My host wondered at my want of taste, and I at his want of feeling; for, to our astonishment, he and the other inhabitants had actually become used to what was at least equal to a nail through the heel of one's boot, or the tooth-ache. ' "As we were now drawing near to the sea, my com- panions were looking at everything in a serious light. One of them asked me if we should all have an oppor- tunity of watching each other at Loanda. ' Suppose one went for water, would the others see if he were kidnapped \ ' I replied, 'I see what you are driving at; and if you suspect me, you may return, for I am as ignorant of Loanda as you are; but nothing will happen to you but what happens to myself. We have 6tood by each other hitherto, and will do so to the last.' The plains adjacent to Loanda are somewhat elevated and comparatively sterile. On coming across these we first beheld the sea: my companions looked upon the boundless ocean with awe. On describing their feelings afterward, they remarked that ' wo marched along with our father, believing that what FROM SHINTE TO LOANDA. 203 the ancients had always told us was true, that the world has no end ; but all at once the world said to us, I am finished ; there is no more of me ! ' They had always imagined that the world was one extended plain without limit. " They were now somewhat apprehensive of suf- fering want, and I was unable to allay their fears with any promise of supply, for my own mind was depres- sed by disease and care. The fever had induced a state of chronic dysentery, so troublesome that I could not remain on the ox more than ten minutes at a time ; and as we came down the declivity above the city of Loanda on the 31st of May, I was laboring under great depression of spirits, as I understood that, in a population of twelve thousand souls, there was but one genuine English gentleman. I naturally felt anxious to know whether he were possessed of good-nature, or was one of those crusty mortals one would rather not meet at all. •' This gentleman, Mr. Gabriel, our commissioner for the suppression of the slave-trade, had kindly for- warded an invitation to meet me on the way from Gas- sange, but, unfortunately, it crossed me on the road. When we entered his porch, I was delighted to see a number of flowers cultivated carefully, and inferred 'a-om this circumstance that he was, what I soon dis- covered him to be, a real, whole-hearted Englishman. " Seeing me ill, he benevolently offered me his bed. Kevcr shall I forget the luxurious pleasure I enjoyed in feeling myself again on a good English couch, after bix months' sleeping on the ground. I was soon isleep ; and Mr. Gabriel, coming in almost immedi- ately, rejoiced at the soundness of my repose." CHAPTER XII. Livingstone's journey across the continent. v. — return to the makololo country. CONTINUED attacks of fever, and the necessity ^ of providing himself thoroughly for the return journey, obliged Livingstone to remain nearly four months in Loanda. During this time he was treated with great kindness by the Portuguese authorities and the officers of the English vessels in port, all of whom contributed liberally to make up his supplies. The Makololo who accompanied him soon found em- ployment sufficient to support them, and enabled them to buy muslin and trinkets. Livingstone gives an interesting picture of their behavior, in the midst of scenes so new T and strange to them : " Every one remarked the serious deportment of the Makololo. They viewed the large stone houses and churches in the vicinity of the great ocean with awe. A house with two stories was, until now, be- yond their comprehension. In explanation of this strange thing, I had always been obliged to use the word for hut ; and as huts are constructed by the poles being let into the earth, they never could comprehend how the poles of one hut could be founded upon the roof of another, or how men could live in the upper story, with the conical roof of the lower one in the middle. Some Makololo, who had visited my little RETURN TO THE MAKOLOLO COUNTRY. 205 bouse at Kolobeng, in trying to describe it to their countrymen at Linyanti, said, ' It is not a hut : it is a mountain with several caves in it.' " Commander Bedingfeld and Captain Skene invited thorn to visit their vessels, the ' Pluto' and ' Philomel.' Knowing their fears, I told them that no one need go if he entertained the least suspicion of foul play. Nearly the whole party went ; and when on deck, I. pointed to the sailors, and said, * Now these are all my countrymen, sent by our Queen for the purpose of putting down the trade of those that buy and sell black men.' They replied, ' Truly ! they are just like you ! ' and all their fears seemed to vanish at once, for they went forward among the men, and the jolly tars, acting much as the Makololo would have done in similar circumstances, handed them a share of the bread and beef which they had for dinner. The com- mander allowed them to fire off a cannon ; and, hav- ing the most exalted ideas of its power, they were greatly pleased wdien I told them, ' That is what they put down the slave-trade with.' The size of the brig- of-war amazed them. * It is not a canoe at all ; it is a town!' The sailors' deck they named 'the kotla;' and then, as a climax to their description of this great ark, added, 'And what sort of a town is it that you must climb up into with a rope % ' " The objects which 1 had in view in opening up the country, as stated in a few notes of my journey, published in the newspapers of Angola, so commended themselves to the general government and merchants of Loanda, that, at the instance of his excellency the bishop, a handsome present for Sekeletu was granted 206 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. by the Board of Public Works. It consisted of a col- onel's complete uniform and a horse for the chief, and 6uits of clothing for all the men who accompanied me. The merchants also made a present, by public sub- scription, of handsome specimens of all their articles of trade, and two donkeys, for the purpose of introduc- ing the breed into his country, as tsetse cannot kill this beast of burden. These presents were accompan- ied by letters from the bishop and merchants ; and J was kindly favored with letters of recommendation tti the Portuguese authorities in Eastern Africa. " I took with me a good stock of cotton cloth, fresh supplies of ammunition and beads, and gave each of my men a musket. As my companions had amassed considerable quantities of goods, they were unable to carry mine, but the bishop furnished me with twenty carriers, and sent forward orders to all the command- ants of the districts through which we were to pass to render me every assistance in their power. Being now supplied with a good new tent made by my friends on board the Philomel, we left Loanda on the 20th of September, 1 854, and passed round by 9ea to the mouth of the river Bengo. " On returning to Golungo Alto, after a canoe vm-- age down the Lucalla to its junction with the largo Coanza "River, I found several of my men laid up with fever. One of the reasons for my leaving them there was that they might recover from the fatigue ot the journey from Loanda, which had much more effect upon their feet than hundreds of miles had on our way westward. They had always been accustomed to moisture in their own well-watered land, and we < -or- RETURN TO THE MAKOLOLO COUNTRY. 207 tainly had a superabundance of that in Loanda. The roads, however, from Loanda to Golungo Alto were both hard and dry, and they suffered severely in con- sequence ; yet they were composing songs to be sung when they should reach home. The Argonauts were nothing to them ; and they remarked very impress- ively to me, ' It Avas well you came with Makololo, for no tribe could have done what we have accom- plished in coming to the white man's country ; we are the true ancients, who can tell wonderful things.' Two of them now had fever in the continued form, and became jaundiced, the whites or conjunctival mem- brane of their eyes becoming as yellow as saffron ;\#nd a third suffered from an attack of mania. He came to his companions one day, and said, ' Remain well. I am called away by the gods ! ' and set off at the top of his speed. The young men caught him before he had gone a mile,' and bound him. By gentle treat- ment and watching for a few days, he recovered. I have observed several instances of this kind in the country, but very few cases of idiocy, and I believe that continued insanity is rare. " Both myself and men having recovered from severe attacks of fever, we left the hospitable residence of Mr. Canto on the 14th of December, with a deep sense of his kindness to us all, and proceeded on our way to Ambaca. " On crossing the Lucalla we a made detour to the Bouth, in order to visit the famous rocks of Pungo An- dongo. As soon as we crossed the rivulet Lotete, a change in the vegetation of the country was apparent. We found the trees identical with those to be seen 208 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. south of the Chobe. The grass, too, stands in tufts, and is of that kind which the natives consider to be best adapted for cattle. Two species of grape-beari ug vines abound everywhere in this district, and the influence of the good pasturage is seen in the plump condition of the cattle. In all my previous inquiries respecting the vegetable products of Angola, I was in- variably directed to Pungo Andongo. Do you grow wheat ? 'Oh, yes, in Pungo Andongo.' — Grapes, tigs, or peaches ? ' Oh, yes, in Pungo Andongo.' — Do you make butter, cheese, etc. ? The uniform answer was, 'Oh, yes, there is abundance of all these in Pango Andongo.' But when we arrived here, we found that the answers all referred to the activity of one man, Colonel Manuel Antonio Pires. The presence of the wild grape shows that vineyards might be cultivated w r ith success; the wheat grows well without irrigation ; and any one who tasted the butter and cheese at the table of Colonel Pires would prefer them to the stale produce of the Irish dairy, in general use throughout that province. " While enjoying the hospitality of this merchant- prince in his commodious residence, which is outside the rocks, and commands a beautiful view of all the adjacent country, I learned that all my dispatches, maps, and journal had gone to the bottom of the sea in the mail-packet ' Forerunner.' I felt so glad that un- friend Lieutenant BedingfeH, to whose care I had com- mitted them, though in the most imminent danger, had not shared a similar fate, that I was at once reconciled to the labor of rewriting. I availed myself of the kind- ness of Colonel Pires, and remained till the end of the year reproducing my lost papers. &BTU&N TO THE MAKOLOLO COUNTRY. 209 "The fort of Pungo Andongo (lat. 9° 42' S., long. 15° 30' E.) is situated in the midst of a group of curi- ous columnar-shaped rocks, each of which is upward of three hundred feet in height. They are composed of conglomerate, made up of a great variety of rounded pieces in a matrix of dark red sandstone. They rest on a thick stratum of this last rock, with very few of the pebbles in its substance. On this a fossil palm has been found, and if of the same age as those on the eastern side of the continent, on which similar palms now lie, there may be coal underneath this, as well as under that at Tete. "January 1, 1855. Having, through the kindness of Colonel Pires, reproduced some of my lost papers, I h'ft Pungo Andongo the first day of this .year, and at Oandumba slept in one of the dairy establishments of my friend, who had sent forward orders for an ample supply of butter, cheese, and milk. Our path lay along the right bank of the Coanza. This is composed of the same sandstone rock, with pebbles, which forms the flooring of the country. The land is level, has much open forest, and is well adapted for pasturage. " Before we reached Cassange we were overtaken by the Commandant, Senhor Carvalho, who was re- turning, with a detachment of fifty men and a field piece, from an unsuccessful search after some rebels. The rebels had fled, and all he could do was to burn their huts. lie kindly invited me to take up my resi- dence with him ; but, not wishing to pass by the gen- tleman (Captain Neves) who had so kindly received L/ie on my first arrival in the Portuguese possessions, T declined." Livingstone remained some time at Cas l 4 21 TRA VELS IN SO U TH AFRICA. eange, resting his men, and waiting for some Portu- guese pombeiros, or half-breed traders, who were about to start for the interior, and whose company would greatly strengthen his party. They finally left Cas- sange on the 20th of February. " On the day of starting the westerly wind blew 6trongly, and on the day following we were brought to a stand by several of our party being laid up with lever. This complaint is the only serious drawback Angola possesses. It is in every other respect an agreeable land, and admirably adapted for yielding a rich abundance of tropical produce for the rest of the world. Indeed, I have no hesitation in asserting that, had it been in the possession of England, it would now have been yielding as much or more of the raw material for her manufactures as an equal extent of territory in the cotton-growing States of America. A railway from Loanda to this valley would secure the trade of most of the interior of South Central Africa. " On coming back to Cypriano's village on the 28th, we found that his step-father had died after we had passed, and according to the custom of the coun- try, he had spent more than his patrimony in funeral orgies. He acted with his wonted kindness, though, unfortunately, drinking has got him so deeply in debt that he now keeps out of the way of his creditors. He informed us that the source of the Quango is eight days, or one hundred miles, to the south of this, and in a range called Mosamba, in the countiy of the Basongo. We can see from this a sort of break in the high land which stretches away round to Tala Mongongo, through which the river conies. RETURN TO THE MAKOLOLO COUNTRY. 211 "The ferrymen demanded thirty yards of calico, bnt received six thankfully. The canoes were wretched, carrying only two persons at a time; but my men being well acquainted with the water, we all got over in about two hours and a half. They excited the admiration of the inhabitants by the manner in which they managed the cattle and donkeys in cross- ing. The most stubborn of beasts found himself powerless in their hands. Five or six, seizing hold on one. bundled him at once into the stream, and, in this predicament^ he always thought it best policy to give in and swim. The men sometimes swam along with the cattle, and forced them to go on by dashing water at their heads. The difference between my men and those of ihe native traders who accompanied us was never more apparent than now ; for, while my men felt an interest in everything we possessed in common, theirs were rather glad when the oxen refused to cross, for, being obliged to slaughter them on such occasions, the loss to theii masters was a welcome feast to them- gelves." After crossing the Quango, where he was not mo- lested, as on the westward journey, Livingstone deci- ded to accompany the traders as far as the town of Cabongo, in the Londa country, in order to avoid the territories of the Chiboque and the great sw^ampy regions lying between him and the distant Leeba River. This route took him further to the eastward, but did not increase the distance to be traversed. Moreover, he would have the company of the Portu- guese traders as far as Cabongo, and the indica- tions were that between the latter place and the 212 TRA VELS IN SO UTH AFRICA. town of his friend Shinte, few difficulties would be encountered from the native tribes. " On proceeding to our former station near Sansawe's village," the narrative continues, " he ran to meet us with wonderful urbanity, asking if we had seen Moene Put, king of the white men (or Portuguese) ; and added, on parting, that he would come to receive his dues in the evening. I replied that, as he had treated us so scurvily, even forbidding his people to sell us any food, if he did not bring us a fowl and some eggs as part of his duty as a chief, he should receive no present from me. When he came, it was in the usual Londa way of showing the exalted position he occu- pies, mounted on the shoulders of his spokesman, as school-boys sometimes do in England, and as was rep- resented to have been the case in the southern islands when Captain Cook visited them. My companions, amused at his idea of dignity, greeted him with a hearty laugh. He visited the native traders first, and then came to me with two cocks as a present. I spoke to him about the impolicy of treatment we had re- ceived at his hands, and quoted the example of the Bangalas, who had been conquered by the Portuguese, for their extortionate demands of payment for firewood, grass, water, etc., and concluded by denying his right to any payment for simply passing through uncultiva- ted land. To all this he agreed ; and then I gave him. as a token of friendship, a pannikin of coarse powder, two iron spoons, and two yards of coarse printed C&lico. " Finding the progress of Senhor Pascoal and the other pombeiros excessively slow, I resolved to forego his company to Cabango after I had delivered to him RETURN TO THE MAKOLOLO COUNTRY. 2L3 Borne letters to be sent back to Cassange. I went for- ward with the intention of finishing my writing, and leaving a packet for him at some village. We as- cended the eastern acclivity that bounds the Cassange valley, which has rather a gradual ascent np from the Quango, and we found that the last ascent, though ap parently not quite so high as that at Tala Mungongo, is actually much higher. The top is about 5,000 feet above the level of the sea, and the bottom 3,500 feet. We had now gained the summit of the western sub- tending ridge, and began to descend toward the centre of the country, hoping soon to get out of the Chiboque territory, which when we ascended from the Cassange valley, we had entered ; but, on the 19th of April, the intermittent, which had begun on the 16th of March, was changed into an extremely severe attack of rheu- matic fever. This was brought on by being obliged to sleep on an extensive plain covered with water. The rain poured down incessantly, but we formed our beds by dragging up the earth into oblong mounds, some- what like graves in a country church-yard, and then plac- ing grass upon them. The rain continuing to deluge us, we were unable to leave for two days, but as soon as it became fair we continued our march. The heavy dew upon the high grass was so cold as to cause shiv ering, and I was forced to lie by for eight days, toss- ing and groaning with violent pain in the head. TlnV was the most severe attack I had endured. It made me quite unfit to move, or even know what was pass- ing outside my little tent. Senhor Pascoal, who had been detained by the severe rain at a better spot, at last came up, and, knowing that leeches abounded in 214: TRA VEL S IN SO UTH A FRICA. the rivulets, procured a number, and applied some dozens to the nape of the neck and the loins. This partially relieved the pain. He was then obliged to move forward, in order to purchase food for his large party. After many days I began to recover, and wished to move on, but my men at first objected to the attempt on account of my weakness. " The country was generally covered with forest, and we slept every night at some village. I was so weak, and had become so deaf from the effects of the fever, that I was glad to avail myself of the company of Senhor Pascoal and the other native traders. Our rate of travelling was only two geographical miles per hour, and the average number of hours three and a half per day, or seven miles. Two-thirds of the month was spent in stoppages, there being only ten travelling days in each month. The stoppages were caused by sickness, and the necessity of remaining in different parts to purchase food ; and also because, when one carrier was sick, the rest refused to carry his load. . " We crossed the Loange, a deep but narrow stream, by a bridge. It becomes much larger, and contains hippopotami, lower down. It is the boundary of Londa on the west. We slept also on the banks of the Pezo, now flooded, and could not but admire their capabilities for easy irrigation. On reaching the river Chikapa, the 25th of March, we found it fifty or sixty yards wide, and flowing E.N.E. into the Kasai. The adjacent country is of the same level nature as that part of Londa formerly described; but, having come farther to the eastward than our previous course, we found that all the rivers had worn for themselves much HEADDRESSES IN LONDA RETURN TO THE MAKOLOLO COUNTRY. 215 deeper valleys tlian at the points we had formerly crossed them. " Surrounded on all sides by large gloomy forests, the people of these parts have a much more indistinct idea of the geography of their country than those who live in hilly regions. It was only after long and pa- tient inquiry that I became fully persuaded that the Quilo runs into the Chikapa. As we now crossed them both considerably farther down, and were greatly to the eastward of our first route, there can be no doubt that these rivers take the same course as the others, into the Kasai, and that I had been led into a mistake in saying that any of them flowed to the westward. " The people seemed more slender in form, and their color a lighter olive, than any we had hitherto met. The mode of dressing the great masses of woolly hair which lay upon their shoulders, together with their general features, again reminded me of the ancient Egyptians. Several were seen with the upward incli- nation of the outer angles of the eye, but this was not general. A few of the ladies adopt a curious custom of attaching the hair to a hoop which encircles the head, giving it somewhat the appearance of the glory round the head of the Virgin. Some have a small hoop behind that represented in the wood-cut. Oth- ers wear an ornament of woven hair and hide adorned with beads. The hair of the tails of buffaloes, which are to be found farther east, is sometimes added ; while others weave their own hajr on pieces of hide into the form of bufialo horns, or make a single horn in front. The features given are frequently met with, but they are by no means universal. Many tattoo their bodies 21 6 TRA VELS IN SO UTH AFRICA. by inserting some black substance beneath the skit, which leaves an elevated cicatrix about half an inch long : these are made in the form of stars, and other figures of no particular beauty. " We made a little detour to the southward in order to get provisions in a cheaper market. This led us along the rivulet called Tamba, where we found the people, who had not been visited so frequently by the slave-traders as the rest, rather timid and very civil. It was agreeable to get again among the uncontamin- ated, and to see the natives look at us without that air of superciliousness which is so unpleasant and common in the beaten track. The same olive color prevailed. They file their teeth to a point, which makes the smile of the women frightful, as it reminds one of the grin of an alligator. The inhabitants throughout this country exhibit as great a variety of taste as appears on the sur- face of society among ourselves. Many of the men are dandies ; their shoulders are always wet with the oil dropping from their lubricated hair, and everything about them is ornamented in one way or another. Some thrum a musical instrument the livelong day, and, when they wake at night, proceed at once to their musical performance. Many of these musicians are too poor to have iron keys to their instrument, but make thorn of bamboo, and persevere, though no one hears the music but themselves. Others try to appear war- like by never going out of their huts except with a load of bows and arrows, or a gun ornamented with a strip of hide for every animal they have shot; and others \ie. r er go anywhere without a canary in a cage. Ladies may be seen carefully tending little lap-dogs, which are RETURN TO THE MAKOLOLO COUNTRY. 21 > Intended to be eaten. Thei/ villages are generally i.i forests, and composed of groups of irregularly-planted brown huts, with banana and cotton trees, and tobacco growing around. There is also at every hut a high stage erected for drying manioc roots and meal, and elevated cages to hold domestic fowls. Round baskets are laid on the thatch of the huts for the hens to lay m, and on the arrival of strangers, men, women, and chil- dren ply their calling as hucksters with a great deal of noisy haggling; all their transactions are conducted with civil banter and good temper. " We passed on through forests abounding in climb- ing-plants, many of which are so extremely tough that a man is required to go in front with a hatchet ; and when the burdens of the carriers are caught, they are obliged to cut the climbers with their teeth, for no amount of tugging will make them break. The paths in all these forests are so zigzag that a person may im- agine he has travelled a distance of thirty miles, which, when reckoned as the crow flies, may not be fifteen. " We crossed two small streams, the Kanesi and Fombeji, before reaching Cabango, a village situated on the banks of the Chihombo. The country was becoming more densely peopled as we proceeded, but it bears no population compared to what it might easily sustain. Provisions were to be had in great abundance; a fowl and basket of meal weighing 20 lbs. were sold for a yard and a half of very inferior cotton cloth, worth not more than three-pence." The progress of the party was so slow, on account of Livingstone's illness, and the many streams to be crossed, that it was the 10th of 218 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. May wl an they reached Cabango. Here they re mained until the 21st. It would have been quite easy for Livingstone to have gone on to the town of Mati- amvo, the great chief of the powerful Londa tribe, re- ports of which have been given to the world by the Portuguese ; but his duty to his Makololo followers compelled him to renounce the chances of exploration. " Cabango (lat. 9° 31' 8., long. 20° 31 / E.) is the dwelling-place of Muanzanza, one of Matiamvo's subordinate chiefs. His village consists of about two hundred huts and ten or twelve square houses, con- structed of poles with grass interwoven. The latter are occupied by half-caste Portuguese from Ambaca, agents for the Cassange traders. The cold in the mornings was now severe to the feelings, the thermom- eter ranging from 58° to 60°, though, when pro- tected, sometimes standing as high as 64° at six A. M. When the sun is well up, the thermometer in the shade rises to 80°, and in the evenings it is about 78°. "A person having died in this village, we could transact no business with the chief until the funeral obsequies were finished. These occupy about four clays, during which there is a constant succession of dancing, wailing, and feasting. Guns are tired by day, and drums beaten by night, and all the relatives, dressed in fantastic caps, keep up the ceremonies with spirit proportionate to the amount of beer and beef expended. When there is a large expenditure, the remark is often made afterward, * What a tine funeral that was!' A figure, consisting chiefly of feathers and beads, is paraded on these occasions, and seems to be regarded as an idol. RETURN TO THE MAKOLOLO COUNTRY. 219 " As ,?e thought it best to strike away to the S. E. from Oabango to our old friend Katema, I asked a guide from Muanzanza as soon as the funeral proceed- ings were over. He agreed to furnish one, and also accepted a smaller present from me than usual, when it was represented to him by Pascoal and Faria that I was not a trader. We were forced to prepay our guide and his father too, and he went but one day, although he promised to go with us to Katema. He was not in the least ashamed at breaking his engage- ments, and probably no disgrace will be attached to the deed by Muanzanza. Among the Bak wains he would have been punished. My men would have stripped him of the wages which he wore on his person, but thought that, as we .had always acted on the mildest principles, they would let him move off with his unearned gains. " On the 28th we reached the village of the chief Bango who brought us a handsome present of meal, and the meat of an entire pallah. We here slaugh- tered the last of the cows presented to us in Loanda, which I had kept milked until it gave only a teaspoon- ful at a time. My men enjoyed a hearty laugh when they found that I had given up all hope of more, for they had been talking among themselves about my perseverance. We offered a leg of the cow to Bango, but he informed us that neither he nor his people ever partook of beef, as they looked upon cattle aa human, and living at home like men. " We left Bango on the 30th of May, and pro- ceeded to the river Loembwe, which abounds in hip- popotami. It is about sixty yards wide, and four feet 220 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. deep, but usually contains much less water than this, for there are fishing-weirs placed right across it. Like all the African rivers in this quarter, it has morasses on each bank, yet the valley in which it winds, when seen from the high lands above, is extremely beautiful. This VaJey is about the fourth of a mile wide, and it was easy to fancy the similarity of many spots on it to the goodly manors in our country, and feel assured that there was still ample territory left for an indefinite increase of the world's population. The villages are widely apart and difficult of access, from the paths being so covered with tall grass, that even an ox can scarcely follow the tract. The grass cuts the feet of the men ; yet we met a woman with a little child, and a girl, wending their way home with loads of manioc. The sight of a white man always infuses a tremor into their dark bosoms, and in every case of the kind they appeared immensely relieved when I had fairly passed without having sprung upon them. In the villages the dogs run away with their tails between their 1 as if they had seen a lion. The women peer from be- hind the walls till he comes near them, and then has- tily dash into the house. When a little child, uncon- scious of danger, meets you in the street, he sets uj> a scream at the apparition, and conveys the impression that he is not far from going into tits. Among the Bechuanas I have been obliged to reprove the women for making a hobgoblin of the white man, and telling their children that they would send for him to bite them. " At every village attempts were made to induce us to remain a night. Sometimes large pots of beer weio RETURN TO THE MAKOLOLO COUNTRY. 221 offered to us as a temptation. Occasionally the head man would peremptorily order us to halt under a tree which he pointed out. At other times young men volunteered to guide us to the impassable part of the next bog, in the hope of bringing us to a stand, for all are excessively eager to trade ; but food was so very cheap that we sometimes preferred paying them to keep it, and let us part in good humor. A good-sized fowl could be had for a single charge of gunpowder." The only difficulty which Livingstone encountered was with a chief named Kawawa, who, after receiving him in a friendly manner, demanded tribute, and, when it was refused, threatened to prevent the party from crossing the great Kasai River, which they were ap- proaching. After an altercation which came near re- sulting in bloodshed, Livingstone marched away from the village with his men. " But Kawawa," he says, u was not to be balked of his supposed rights by the unceremonious way in which we had left him ; for, when we had reached the ford of the Kasai, about ten miles distant, we found that he had sent four of his men, with orders to the ferrymen to refuse us passage. We were here duly informed that we must deliver up all the articles men- tioned, and one of our men besides. This demand for one of our number always nettled every heart. The canoes were taken away before our eyes, and we were supposed to be quite helpless without them, at a river a good hundred yards broad, and very deep. Pitsane stood* on the bank, gazing with apparent indifference vn the stream, and made an accurate observation of where the canoes were hidden among the reeds. The 222 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. ferrymen casually asked one of my Batoka if they had rivers in his country, and he answered with truth, ' No, we have none.' Kawawa's people then felt sure we could not cross. I thought of swimming when they were gone ; but after it was dark, by the unasked loan of one of the hidden canoes, we soon were snug in our bivouac on the southern bank of the Kasai. I left some beads as payment for some meal which had been presented by the ferrymen ; and, the canoe hav- ing been left on their own side of the river, Pitsano and his companions laughed uproariously at the dis- gust our enemies would feel, and their perplexity as to who had been our paddler across. They were quite sure that Kawawa would imagine that we had been ferried over by his own people, and would be divining to find out who had done the deed. When ready to depart in the morning, Kawawa's people appeared on the opposite heights, and could scarcely believe their eyes when they saw us prepared to start away to the south. At last one of them called out, ' Ah ! ye are bad,' to which Pitsane and his companions retorted, 1 Ah ! ye are good, and we thank you. for the loan of your canoe.' We were careful to explain the whole of the circumstances to Katema and the other ch; and they all agreed that we were perfectly justifiable under the circumstances, and that Matiamvo would approve our conduct. "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 RETURN TO THE MAKCLOLO COUNTRY. 223 carrion was to be found; and, indeed, we saw several of the large game, but so exceedingly wild as to be [inapproachable. Numbers of caterpillars mounted the stalks of grass, and many dragonflies and butter- flies appeared, though this was winter. " 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." Nothing further occurred to interrupt the progress of the party. The chief Katema received them kindly, and, after a short rest at his village, they proceeded onward across the many tributaries of the Leeba, then that river itself, and finally reached the town of the friendly Shinte, on the 24th of June. " We 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 com- panions, 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 Loan- da.' When I explained the use made of the slaves he «old, and that he was just destroying his own tribe by 224 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. 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. " 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, and a fig-tree, with coifee, aracas, and papaws. 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 fre- quently 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 when told that this would produce oil in much greater quan- tity than their native tree, which is not a palm. " We parted on the best possible terms with our friend Shinte, and proceeded by our former path to the village of his sister JS T yamoana, 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 RETURN TO THE MAKOLOLO COUNTRY. 225 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 compan- ions 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 hunt- ing animals in the water. The price paid was a string of beads equal to the length of the canoe. We ad- vised them to bring canoes for sale to the Makololo, as they would gladly give them cows in exchange." Livingstone waited a day or two to see the chief- tainess Manenko, and while there, became a blood- relation to her husband Maneako, each drinking a few drops of the other's blood, in a pot of beer. " On one occasion," he says, " 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 Bquirted some blood into my eye. She remarked, when I was wiping the blood out of it, ' You were a IS 226 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. 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 molehane (friend) in every village of the friendly Balonda. " We reached the town of Libonta on the 27th of July, 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, rais- ing such a dust that it was quite a relief to get to the men assembled and sitting with proper African de- corum 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 de- lay, but left the report to be made by their own coun- trymen. Formerly I had been the chief speaker, now I would leave the task of speaking to them. Pitsano 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 '\- pecled; that I had not only opened up a path for them to the other white men, but conciliated all the chiefs along the route. RETURN TO THE MAKOLOLO COUNTRY. 227 " 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 the} 7 - had seen in Loanda, and called them- selves 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 slaugh- ter, and the women supplied us abundantly with milk, meal, and butter. It was all quite gratuitous, and I it It 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 ben- efit them in the only way I could, by imparting the knowledge of that Saviour 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. 228 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. " On reaching Naliele on the 1st of August we found Mpololo in great affliction on account of the death of his daughter and her child. She had been lately confined ; and her father naturally remembered her when an ox was slaughtered, or when the tribute of other food, which he receives in lieu of Sekeletu, came in his way, and sent frequent presents to her. This moved the envy of one of the Makololo who hated Mpololo, and wishing to vex him, he entered the daughter's hut by night, and strangled both her and her child. He then tried to make fire in the hut and burn it, so that the murder might not be known ; but the squeaking noise of rubbing the sticks awakened a servant, and the murderer was detected. Both he and his wife were thrown into the river; the latter having * known of her husband's intentions, and not revealing them.' She declared she had dissuaded him from the crime, and, had any one interposed a word, she might have been spared. " I left Naliele on the 13th of August, and, when proceeding along the shore at midday, a hippopotamus struck the canoe with her forehead, lifting one half of it quite out of the water, so as nearly to overturn it. The force of the butt she gave tilted Mashauana out into the river; the rest of us sprang to the shore, which was only about ten yards off. Glancing bark, I saw her come to the surface a short way off, and look to the canoe, as if to see if she had done much mis- chief. It was a female, whose young one had been Bpeared the day before. No damage was done except wetting person and goods. This is so unusual an oc- currence, when the precaution is taken to coast along HIPPOPOTAMUS UPSETTING A BOAT. RETURN TO THE MAKOLOLO COUNTRY. 229 the shore, that my men exclaimed, ' Is the beast mad ? ' There were eight of us in the canoe at the time, and the shake it received shows the immense power of this animal in the water. " Having got the loan of other canoes from Mpololo, and three oxen as provision for the way, which made the number we had been presented with in the Barotse valley amount to thirteen, we proceeded down the river toward Sesheke, and were as much struck as formerly with the noble river. The whole scenery is lovely, though the atmosphere is murky in consequence of the continuance of the smoky tinge of winter. "Long before reaching Sesheke we had been in- formed that a party of Matebele, the people of Mo- silikatse, had brought some packages of goods for me to the south bank of the river, near the Victoria Falls, and, though they declared that they had been sent by Mr. Moffat, the Makololo had refused to credit the statement of their sworn enemies. They imagined that the parcels were directed to me as a mere trick, whereby to place witchcraft-medicine into the hands of the Makololo. When the Matebele on the south bank called to the Makololo on the north to come over in canoes and receive the goods sent by Moffat to ' Nake,' the Makololo replied, ' Go along with you, wo know better than that ; how could he tell Moffat to send his things here, he having gone away to the north ? ' The Matebele answered, ' Here are the goods ; we place them now before you, and if you leave them to perish the guilt will be yours.' When they had departed the Makololo thought better of it, and, after much divination, went over with fear and trem- 230 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. bling, and carried the packages carefully to an island in the middle of the stream ; then, building a hut over them to protect them from the weather, they left them ; and there I found they had remained from September, 1854, till September, 1855, in perfect safety. Here, as I had often experienced before, I found the news was very old, and had lost much of its interest by keeping, but there were some good eata- ables from Mrs. Moffat. " Having waited a few days at Sesheke till the horses which we had left at Linyanti should arrive, we proceeded to that town, and found the wagon, and everything we had left in November, 1853, perfectly safe. A grand meeting of all the people was called to receive our report, and the articles which had been sent by the governor and merchants of Loanda. I ex- plained that none of these were my property, but that they were sent to show the friendly feelings of the white men, and their eagerness to enter into commer- cial relations with the Makololo. I then requested my companions to give a true account of what they had seen. The wonderful things lost nothing in the telling, the climax always being that they had finished the whole world, and had turned only when there was no more land. One glib old gentleman asked, ' Then you reached Ma Robert (Mrs. L)?' They were obliged to confess that she lived a little beyond the world. The presents were received with expressions of great satisfaction and delight; and on Sunday, when Sckeletu made his appearance at church in his uni- form, it attracted more attention than the sermon; and the kind expressions they made use of respecting THE VILLAGE OF SKULLS. RE TURN TO THE M* i KOL OLO AO UNTR Y. 23 1 myself were so very flattering that I felt inclined to shut my eyes. Their private opinion must have tal- lied with their public report, for I very soon received offers from volunteers to accompany me to the east coast." [In his narrative Livingstone omits the relation of the manner in which the goods had been forwarded by Mr. Moffat to the island on the Zambesi. His father-in-law, still full of energy in spite of his age, had determined that no chance should be lost of forwarding supplies ; and undertook the task himself, since it involved a journey into the Matebele country, which (as the reader will see by referring to Chapter in.) he had first visited in 1829. The famous chief, Mosilikatse, was still living, though very old, and Moffat believed that — although the Matebele and Mak- ololo were hostile — he could prevail upon the chief to forward supplies to Livingstone through his country. Starting from Kuruman, in the spring of 1854, Moffat travelled about 400 miles, in a north-eastern direction, before reaching the frontiers of the Matabele tribe. After a journey of several weeks, he arrived at the Village of Skulls, the town of Mosilikatse. Each hut is surrounded with high poles, every one of which is crowned with the skulls of those slain by the owner of the hut. The surrounding country was mountain- ous, but very beautiful and fertile, and the people were becoming agricultural in their habits. The first interview which Moffat had with the old chief was an evidence that the latter possessed some native goodness of heart, in spite of the savage acts of which he had been guilty during all his long life. 232 TRA VELS IX SOUTH AFRICA. Mosilikatse was carried in a kind of chair to meet the missionary. The hero of so many battles was hardly to be recognized. His body and his legs were so swollen by dropsy that he could neither walk nor sit erect. When he saw Moffat, he grasped his hand silently, then threw his garment over his face and wept. Many times he repeated the words : " Surely, I am only dreaming that you are Moffat," and then said : " Matshobane (the name of my father) I will call you, because you have been a father to me. You have made my heart as soft as milk. I cannot cease to won- der at the affection of a stranger. You have never 6een me before, and yet you love me more than any one of my own people. You have fed me, when I was hungry; yon have clothed me, when I was naked; you have held me in your bosom, and your arm has protected me from my enemies." When Moffat answered that he was not conscious of having rendered him any of these services, the chief pointed to two native messengers who had seated them- selves at the missionary's feet, and answered: "These two are very important men ; Umbate is my right hand. When I send them where the white men live, I send my ears, my eyes, and my mouth with them. What they have heard, I hear ; what they have seen, I see ; and what they have said, was said by Mosilikatse. You have fed and clothed them, and when their lives were in danger, you were their shield. What you did to them, that you did to me." Pointing to his dropsical legs, which he declared would soon bring him to death, he added : " Your God RETURN TO THE MAKOLOLO COUNTRY. 233 has sent you to me, to give me help and healing." Moffat undertook the treatment of his case, and was fortunate enough to enable him to walk a little ; but he was always obliged to administer the medicine him- self, as the chief was in constant fear of being poisoned by his wives. The journey was entirely successful. The Mate- bele, as we have seen, took charge of the supplies for Livingstone, carried them to the Zambesi, and there conscientiously deposited them, leaving the further responsibility of their care to the Makololo. Moffat ret iin ied in safety to Kuruman.] CHAPTER XIII. Livingstone's journey across the continent. VI. DOWN THE ZAMBESI TO THE EASTERN COAST. HAYING found it impracticable to open a wagon- road to the western coast, it was now necessary that Livingstone should make choice of route by which the Indian Ocean might be reached. The Arab tra ders to be transported from Zanzibar to the Makololo country assured him that he could return upon their track with safety, by way of the great lake Tangany- ika, which had not then been reached by any white man; but he was anxious to ascertain whether the Zambesi River might not be a navigable stream for some distance into the interior. His first desire, of course, was to follow the river. The Makololo, how- ever, who were acquainted with the country as far eastward as the Kafue, a large tributary of the Zam- besi, objected to this, declaring that the country was so broken and rocky as to render it almost impassable. They proposed a direct course eastward, on the northern side of the Zambesi, to the Kafue, and then a journey along the former river to the first Portuguese station at Tete. As Livingstone was indebted to Sekeletu for much of his outfit, and his success, as on the westward journey, would depend entirely on the conduct of his followers, he felt obliged to accept DOWN THE ZAMBESI. 235 their decision. So much of his great design had already been accomplished, that it scarcely seemed necessary to hazard the remaining portion without the certainty of some advantage in return. We will now let him resume his narrative : " On the 3d of November we bade adieu to our friends at Linyanti, accompanied by Sekeletu and about 200 followers. We were all fed at his expense, and he took cattle for this purpose from every station we came to. The principal men of the Makololo, Lebeole, Ntlarie, Nkwatlele, etc., were also of the party. We passed through the patch of the tsetse, which exists between Linyanti and Sesheke, by night. The majority of the company went on by daylight, in order to prepare our beds. Sekeletu and I, with about forty young men, waited outside the tsetse till dark. We then w T ent forward, and about ten o'clock it be- came so pitchy dark that both horses and men were completely blinded. The lightning spread over the sky, forming eight or ten branches at a time, in shape exactly like those of a tree. This, with great volumes of sheet-lightning, enabled us at times to see the whole country. The intervals between the flashes were so densely dark as to convey the idea of stone-blindness The horses trembled, cried out, and turned round, as if searching for each other, and every new flash re- vealed the men taking different directions, laughing, and stumbling against each other. " While at Sesheke, Sekeletu supplied me with twelve oxen — three of which were accustomed to be- ing ridden upon — hoes, and beads to purchase a canoe when we should strike the Leeambye beyond the falls. 23G TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. lie likewise presented abundance of good fresh butter and honey, and did everything in his power to make me comfortable for the journey. I was entirely depen- dent on his generosity, for the goods I originally brought from the Cape were all expended by the time I set oif from Linyanti to the west coast. I there drew £70 of my salary, paid my men with it, and purchase*) goods for the return journey to Linyanti. These being now all expended, the Makololo again fitted me out, and sent me on to the east coast. I was thus depen- dent on their bounty, and that of other Africans, for the means of going from Linyanti to Loanda, and again from Linyanti to the east coast, and I feel deeply grateful to them. Coin would have been of no benefit, for gold and silver are quite unknown. " As this was the point from which we intended to strike off to the north-east, I resolved on the following day to visit the Falls of Yictoria, called by the natives Mosioatunya, or more anciently Shongwe. Of these w T e had often heard since we came into the country ; indeed, one of the questions asked by Sebituane was, * Have you smoke that sounds in your country ? ' They did not go near enough to examine them, but, viewing them with awe at a distance, said, in reference to the vapor and noise, * Mosi oa tunya ' (smoke does sound there). It was previously called Shongwe, the meaning of which I could not ascertain. The word for a 'pot' resembles this, and it may mean a seething caldron, but I am not certain of it. Being persuaded that Mr. Oswell and myself were the verv first Euro- peans who ever visited the Zambesi in the centre of the country, and that this is the connecting link between DOWN THE ZAMBESI. 237 the known and unknown portions of that river, I de- cided to use the same liberty as the Makololo did, and gave the only English name I have affixed to any part of the country. " Sekeletu intended to accompany me, but one canoe only having come instead of the two he had ordered, he resigned it to me. After twenty minutes' sail from Kalai we came in sight, for the first time, of the columns of vapor appropriately called 'smoke,' rising at a distance of five or six miles, exactly as when large tracts of grass are burned in Africa. Five col- es o uinns now arose, and, bending in the direction of the wind, they seemed placed against a low ridge covered with trees ; the tops of the columns at this distance appeared to mingle with the clouds. They were white below, and higher up became dark, so as to simulate smoke very closely. The whole scene was extremely beautiful ; the banks and islands dotted over the river are adorned with sylvan vegetation of great variety of color and form. At the period of our visit several trees were spangled over with blossoms. Some trees resemble the great spreading oak, others assume the character of our own elms and chestnuts ; but no one can imagine the beauty of the view from anything witnessed in England. It had never been seen before by European eyes; but scenes so lovely must have been gazed upon by angels in their flight. The only want felt is that of mountains in the background. The falls are bounded on three sides by ridges 300 or 400 feet in height, which are covered with forest, with the red soil appearing among the trees. When about half a mile from the falls, I left the canoe by which we had $38 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. come down thus far, and embarked in a lighter one, with men well acquainted with the rapids, who, by passing down the centre of the stream in the eddies and still places caused by many jutting rocks, brought me to an island situated in the middle of the river, and on the edge of the lip over which the water rolls. In coming hither there was danger of being swept down by the streams which rushed along on each side of the island ; but the river was now low, and we sailed where it is totally impossible to go when the water is high. But, though we had reached the island, and were within a few yards of the spot, a view from which would solve the whole problem, I believe that no one could perceive where the vast body of water went ; it seemed to lose itself in the earth, the oppo- site lip of the fissure into which it disappeared being only 80 feet distant. At least I did not comprehend it until, creeping with awe to the verge, I peered down into a large rent which had been made from bank to bank of the broad Zambesi, and saw that a stream of a thousand yards broad leaped down a hun- dred feet, and then became suddenly compressed into a space of fifteen or twenty yards. The entire falls are simply a crack made in a hard basaltic rock from the right to the left bank of the Zambesi, and then prolonged from the left bank away through thirty or forty miles of hills. If one imagines the Thames filled with low, tree-covered hills immediately beyond the tunnel, extending as far as Gravesend, the bed of black basaltic rock instead of London mud, and a fis- Bure made therein from one end of the tunnel to the Other down through the keystones of the arch, and DOWN THE ZAMBESI. 239 prolonged from the left end of the tunnel through thirty miles of hills, the pathway being 100 feet down from the bed of the river instead of what it is, with the lips of the h'ssure from 80 to 100 feet apart, then fancy the Thames leaping bodily into the gulf, and forced there to change its direction, and flow from the right to the left bank, and then rush boiling and roar- ing through the hills, he may have some idea of what takes place at this, the most wonderful sight I had witnessed in Africa. In looking down into the fissure on the right of the island, one sees nothing but a dense white cloud, which, at the time we visited the spot, had two bright rainbows on it. (The sun was on the meridian, and the declination about equal to the latitude of the place). From this cloud rushed up a great jet of vapor exactly like steam, and it mounted 200 or 300 feet high ; there condensing, it changed its hue to that of dark smoke, and came back in a con- stant shower, which soon wetted us to the skin. This shower falls chiefly on the opposite side of the fissure, and a few yards back from the lip there stands a straight hedge of evergreen trees, whose leaves are always wet. From their roots a number of little rills run back into the gulf, but, as they flow down the steep wall there, the column of vapor, in its ascent, licks them up clean off the rock, and away they mount again. They are constantly running down, but nevei reach the bottom. u On the left of the island we see the water at the bottcm, a white rolling mass moving away to the pro- .ongation of the fissure, which branches off near the left bank of the river. A piece of the rock has fallen 240 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. off a spot on the left of the island, and juts out from the water below, and from it I judged the distance which the water falls to be about 100 feet. The walls of this gigantic crack are perpendicular, and composed of one homogeneous mass of rock. " On the left side of the island we have a good view of the mass of water which causes one of the columns of vapor to ascend, as it leaps quite clear of the rock, and forms a thick unbroken fleece all the way to the bottom. Its whiteness gave the idea of snow, a sight I had not seen for many a day. As it broke into (if I may use the term) pieces of water, all rushing on in the same direction, each gave off several rays of foam exactly as bits of steel, when burned in oxygen gas, give off rays of sparks. The snow-white sheet seemed like myriads of small comets rushing on in one direc- tion, each of which left behind its nucleus rays of foam. I never saw the appearance referred to noticed else- where. It seemed to be the effect of the mass of water leaping at once clear of the rock, and but slowly break- ing up into spray. " I have mentioned that we saw live columns of vapor ascending from this strange abyss. They are evi- dently formed by the compression suffered by the force of the water's own fall into an unyielding wedge-shaped space. Of the five columns, two on the right and one on the left of the island were the largest, and tho ft reams which formed them seemed each to ex- ceed in size the falls of the Clyde at Stonebyrefi when that river is in flood. This was the period of low water in the Leeambye ; but, as far as I conld guess, mere was a How of live or six hundred yards of water, DOWN THE ZAMBESI. 241 which, at the edge of the fall, seemed at least three feet deep. " The fissure is said by the Makololo to be very much deeper farther to the eastward ; there is one part at which the walls are so sloping that people accus- tomed to it can go down by descending in a sitting position. The Makololo on one occasion, pursuing some fugitive Batoka, saw them, unable to stop the impetus of their flight at the edge, literally dashed to pieces at the bottom. They beheld the stream like a ' white cord' at the bottom, and so far down (probably 300 feet) that they became giddy, and were faint to go away holding on to the ground. " Sekeletu and his large party having conveyed me thus far, and furnished me with a company of 114 men to carry the tusks to the coast, we bade adieu to the Makololo on the 20th of November, and proceeded northward to the Lekone. The country around is very beautiful, and was once well peopled with Batoka, who possessed enormous herds of cattle. When Sebit- uane came in former times, with his small but warlike party of Makololo, to this spot, a general rising took place of the Batoka through the whole country, in order to £ eat him up ;' but his usual success followed him, and, dispersing them, the Makololo obtained so many cattle that they could not take any note of the herds of sheep and goats. The tsetse has been brought by buffaloes into some districts where formerly cattle abounded. This obliged us to travel the first few stages by night. We could not well detect the nature Df the country in the dim moonlight; the path, how- ever, seemed to lead along the high bank of what may 16 242 TEA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. have been the ancient bed of the Zambesi before the fissure was made. The Lekone now winds in it in an opposite direction to that in which the ancient river must have flowed. " For a few days we travelled over an uninhabited, gently undulating, and most beautiful district, the bor- der territory between those who accept and those who reject the sway of the Makololo. The face of the coun- try appears as if in long waves, running north and south. There are no rivers, though water stands in pools in the hollows. We were now come into the country which my people all magnify as a perfect para- dise. Sebituane was driven from it by the Matebele. It suited him exactly for cattle, corn, and health. The soil is dry. and often a reddish sand ; there are few trees, but fine large shady ones stand dotted here and there over the country where towns formerly stood. One of the fig family I measured, and found to be forty feet in circumference ; the heart had been burned out, and some one had made a lodging in it, for we saw the remains of a bed and a fire. The sight of the open country, with the increased altitude we were attaining, was most refreshing to the spirits. Large game abound. We see in the distance buffaloes, elands, hartebeest, gnus, and elephants, all very tame, as no one disturbs them. Lions, which always accompany other large animals, roared about us, but, as it was moonlight, there was no danger. In the evening, while standing on a mass of granite, one began to roar at me, though it was still light. "On the 3d of December we crossed the rivet Mozuma, or river of Dila, having travelled through a DOWN THE ZAMBESI. 243 beautifully undulating pastoral country. To the south, and a little east of this, stands the hill Taba Cheu, or ' White Mountains,' from a mass of white rock, prob- ably dolomite, on its top. But none of the hills are of any great altitude. The Mozuma, or river of Dila, was the first water-course which indicated that we were now on the slopes toward the eastern coast. It contained no flowing water, but revealed in its banks what gave me great pleasure at the time — pieces of lig- nite, possibly indicating the existence of a mineral, namely, coal, the want of which in the central country I had always deplored. Again and again we came to the ruins of large towns, containing the only hiero- glyphics of this country, worn mill-stones, with the round ball of quartz with which the grinding was effected. Great numbers of these balls were lying about, showing that the depopulation had been the result of war ; for, had the people removed in peace, they would have taken the balls with them. " When we had passed the outskirting villages, which alone consider themselves in a state of war with the Makololo, we found the Batoka, or Batonga, as they here call themselves, quite friendly. Great numbers of them came from all the surrounding vil- lages with presents of maize and masuka, and ex- pressed great joy at the first appearance of a white man, and harbinger of peace. The women clothe themselves better than the Balonda, but the men go in purls naturalibtcs. They walk about without the smallest sense of shame. " The further we advanced, the more we found the C'-mtry swarming with inhabitants. Great numbers 2 ±4 TKA VEL S IN SOU TH A FKICA . came to see the white man, a sight they had never be- held before. They always brought presents of maize and masuka. Their mode of salutation is quite singular. They throw themselves on their backs on the ground, and, rolling from side to side, slap the outside of their thighs as expressions of thankfulness and welcome, uttering the words ' Kina boinba.' This method of salutation was to me very disagreeable, and I never could get reconciled to it. I called out, ' Stop, stop ; I don't want that ;' but they, imagining I was dissatis- fied, only tumbled about more furiously, and slapped their thighs with greater vigor." For nearly a month the party pushed slowly on, varying the monotony of the journey by hunting elephants, or overcoming difficulties occasioned by the greed or suspicion of the natives. In the latter cases, one of the Makololo, Sekwebu by name, was of great service. The party reached the Kafue on the 18th of December, and finally the Zambesi about the close of the year. " As we approached nearer the Zambesi," says Livingstone, "the country became covered with broad- leaved bushes, pretty thickly planted, and we had several times to shout to elephants to get out of our way. At an open space, a herd of buffaloes came trotting ii p to look at our oxen, and it was only by shooting one that I made them retreat. The meat is very much like that of an ox, and this one was very tine. The only danger wo actually encountered was from a female elephant, with three young ones of different sizes. Charging through the centre of our extended line, and causing the men to throw down DOWN THE ZAMBESI. 245 their burdens in a great hurry, she received a spear for her temerity. I never saw an elephant with more than one calf before. We knew that we were near our Zambesi again, even before the great river burst upon our sight, by the numbers of water-fowl we met. I killed four geese with two shots, and, had I followed the wishes of my men, could have secured a meal of water- fowl for the whole party. I never saw a river with so much animal life around and in it, and, as the Barotse say, 'Its tish and fowl are always fat.' When our eyes were gladdened by a view of its goodly broad waters, we found it very much larger than it is even above the falls. One might try to make his voice heard across it in vain. Its flow was more rapid than near Sesheke, being often four and a half miles an hour." During January and February, 1856, the party moved slowly eastward, encountering great difficul- ties from the hostility of the natives. More than once they were on the point of fighting, and the trouble was scarcely avoided, before a similar one would arise at the next settlement. At the confluence of the Loangwe, a large stream which comes down from the north, with the Zambesi, Livingstone found some re- mains of the old Portuguese station of Zumbo. Be- low this, he was obliged to cross the Zambesi, and take a direct route across the rough and dangerous region to the south of the river, directly towards Tete. This narrative is full of exciting details, which, how- ever, there is no space to reproduce here. We must pass on to the close of the eventful journey, and give his account of the approach to the semi-civilization of 246 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. a Portuguese trading-port, on the eastern side of the continent: " Being pretty well tired out in the evening of the 2d of March, I remained at about eight miles distance from Tete. My men asked me to go on ; I felt too fatigued to proceed, but sent forward to the command- ant the letters of recommendation with which I had been favored in Angola by the bishop and others, and lay down to rest. Our food having been exhausted, my men had been subsisting for some time on roots and honey. About two o'clock in the morning of the 3d we were aroused by two officers and a company of soldiers, who had been sent with the materials for a civilized breakfast and a ' masheela ' to bring me to Tete. My companions thought that we were captured by the armed men, and called me in alarm. When I understood the errand on which they had come, and had partaken of a good breakfast, though I had just before been too tired to sleep, all my fatigue vanished. It was the most refreshing breakfast I ever partook of, and I walked the last eight miles without the least ft cling of weariness, although the path was so rough that one of the officers remarked to me, 'This is enough to tear a man's life out of him.' The pleasure ex, fenced in partaking of that breakfast was only c) i ailed by the enjoyment of Mr. Gabriel's bed on my arrival at Loanda. It was also enhanced by the news that Sebastopol had fallen and the war was finished. " The village of Tete is built on a long slope down to the river, the fort being close to the water. The rock beneath is gray sand-stone, and has the appear ance of being crushed away from the river: the strata DOWN THE ZAMBESI. 247 have tlms a crumpled form. The hollow between each crease is a street, the houses being built upon the pro- jecting fold. The rocks at the top of the slope ara much higher than the fort, and of course completely command it. There is then a large valley, and beyond that anoblong hill called Karueira. The whole of the adjacent country is rocky and broken, but every avail able spot is under cultivation. The stone houses in Tete are cemented with mud instead of lime, and thatched with reeds and grass. The rains, having washed out the mud between the stones, give all the houses a rough, untidy appearance. No lime was known to be found nearer than Mozambique; some used in making seats in the verandas had actually been brought all that distance. " There are about twelve hundred huts in all, which with European households would give a population of about four thousand five hundred souls. Only a small proportion of these, however, live on the spot ; the majority are engaged in agricultural operations in the adjacent country. Generally there are not more than two thousand people resident, for, compared with what it was, Tete is now a ruin. The number of Portuguese is very small ; if we exclude the military, it is under twenty. " As it was necessary to leave most of my men at this place, Major Sicard gave, them a portion of land on which to cultivate their own food, generously supply- jig them with corn in the meantime. He also said that my young men might go and hunt elephants in company with his servants, and purchase goods with both the ivory and dried meat, in order that they 24 8 TRA l 'EL S JJV SOUTH A FRICA. might have something to take with them on their return to Sekeletu. The men were delighted with his liberality, and soon sixty or seventy of them set off to engage in this enterprise. There was no calico to be had at this time in Tete, but the commandant hand- somely furnished my men with clothing. I was in a state of want myself, and, though I pressed him to take payment in ivory for both myself and men, he refused all recompense. I shall ever remember his kindness with deep gratitude." After a good rest at Tete, Livingstone, heartily as- sisted by the Portuguese authorities, commenced his voyage down the Zambesi. He had now reached terri- tory which was known, and the interest of his narra- tive ceases. The toils and privations of the journey were also over : he floated comfortably on through the fever-haunted lowlands of Eastern Africa, and on the 20th of May reached the village of Kilimane. " It wanted," he says, " only a few days of being four years since I started from Capetown. Here I was received into the house of Colonel Galdino Jose Nunes, one of the best men in the country. I had been three years without hearing from my family ; letters having fre- quently been sent, but somehow or other, with but a single exception, they never reached me. I received, however, a letter from Admiral Trotter, conveying in- formation of their welfare, and some newspapers, which were a treat indeed. Her Majesty's brig the ' Frolic ? had called to inquire for me in the November previ* ous, and Captain Nolluth, of that ship, had most con- siderately left a case of wine; and his surgeon, \h\ James Walsh, divining what I s ould need most, left DOWN THE ZAMBESi. iJ4und of bells announced the approach of the king. He entered, took his seat on a sort of tli n»ue. over which was suspended a lion's hide, while ,-t page km -It at his feet and a servant with a qnagga'fl tail .stood behind him. On either side the chiefs and warriors of the court, with their hair twisted into the shape of a helmet, arranged themselves in rows: as weapons they bore long guns, lances, and wooden clubs. The king, whose name was Kavava-Kayangula, MAGYAR'S JO URNE Y TO BIHE. 267 was about 50 years old, and of a tall, lean figure. Ilia features were tolerably regular, and would have been agreeable, but for his keen, cunning eyes. He wore a kind of turban on his head, a wide blue robe, and a gayly-striped shawl over his shoulders. The claws of a lion, set in gold, hung as a talisman on his breast, and he held a small dagger in his hand. When he had taken his seat, he thrice greeted Magyar, who. had also seated himself on a camp-stool, with the usual salutation : " Peace be with you ! " — to which the latter answered, as he had been instructed : " Also with you, princely father ! " while the warriors shouted in chorus : " Hail, mighty Lion ! raging Lion ! " Then Magyar's Tcissongo related all the incidents of the journey, and stated his master's wish to make his home in the land of Bihe, and to visit the other tribes of the interior. This statement lasted more than half an hour, because, although it was made in the language of the country, every word must be repeated to the king by one of his own officers. The " raging Lion" listened patiently, and at the end expressed his satisfaction. His answer was : " You have honored me, white man, with the confidence you have placed in me, in giving up the comforts which you enjoyed at home, among your own people, and coming here to settle among us. Therefore, be wel- come ! I take you under my protection, and woe be to them who shall dare to injure your person or your property ! I grant to you the right of hospitality which has been given by our ancestors, and my people must know and respect it." The twenty principal chiefs repeated their former salutation, as an accept- 2(5 '» TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA, ance of the king's words, and the traveller thus be- came aM honorary citizen of Bihe. The king, it appeared, had visited the coast, where he had seen ships, and was greatly impressed with the knowledge and courage of the European race. Magyar endeavored to persuade him that the negroes might procure for themselves many of the things for which they were most dependent on the whites, if they would only be more industrious. They might, for instance, raise and weave their own cotton, besides learning many other simple arts, which would be of great service. The king admitted the truth of this, but added that he was surrounded with such dishonest persons, that it would be impossible for him to intro- duce any such changes. At the end of the audience Magyar was conducted to his hut, and a festival, in which all the natives took part, closed the day. CHAPTER XV. Magyar's journeys in the interior. DUEING the evening after his reception at the palace, Magyar was surprised by a visit from the king. The latter privately informed him of his inten- tion to undertake a foray upon a neighboring tribe, and insisted on his accompanying the expedition. Under the circumstances, a refusal did not seem politic, and Magyar therefore temporarily agreed, in the hope that some means of escape from the unwelcome obligation would yet be found. Before continuing the history of his personal adven- tures, we will here give his account of the manner in which the rule of the royal family of Bihe has been perpetuated for nearly three centuries. As soon as the king appears to be so ill that his death is probable, the chiefs nearest to him in authority separate him from his family and servants, and themselves carry on the government until his death. When this last circum- stance is announced his many wives make a loud outcry, and thus proclaim it to the people of the capital. The heir to the throne is the eldest son of the king's eldest sister, because the people consider that the purity of blood is transmitted through woman, not through man. For this reason, when a male slave marries a free woman, his children are free. But the hereditary prince is not allowed to live in the neighborhood of the 270 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. reigning king : he dare not even visit the latter ; and he is therefore quietly brought up in some remote part of the country. When the king is dead, the prince is escorted to the vicinity of the capital where a tempor- ary camp is pitched, while the corpse, sewed up in a fresh ox-hide, is committed to the earth, in the midst of a number of slaughtered slaves. The best warriors of the nation then assemble at the camp, and plan an expedition against some neigh- boring tribe, chiefly for the purpose of obtaining cap- tives. When the foray has succeeded, and a sufficient number of prisoners, of both high and low rank, have been secured, the warriors return home. One of the former is then chosen as a special offering, but this is 6trictly kept secret from him. He is allowed a certain degree of liberty, is invited to all the festivals, fed and entertained in the best manner, and finally, in the midst of some inebriated dance, his head is suddenly 6truck off by a slave who steals behind him. His body is then cooked with the flesh of dogs and buffaloes, and eaten by the chiefs. Then, first, the new prince is pro- claimed king, and enters on his reign. Magyar returned to his settlement, and imme- diately began the cultivation of his fields. Something of his prestige was lost, however, when he took hold of the hoe and spade, in order to teach his slaves a better method of turning up the soil. It was there- fore all the more necessary that he should conform to the prejudices of the people in other respects, espe- cially in employing the native wizards, when any of lis people were sick. This last expedient was the means of releasing him from the promise wlii'th ho MA G YAR 'S JO URNE YS IN THE INTERIOR. 271 had made to the king. As the time for the expedi- tion drew near, he complained of pains in the body, and bad dreams, which the wizards declared were produced by evil spirits. Magyar then explained to them that his participation in the foray was pro- hibited by the laws of his land, and this was proba- bly a punishment sent upon him for intending to vio- late them. The magicians, after a careful physical examina- tion of the patient, retired into the forest to consult. They finally decided that an evil spirit had entered into Magyar's body, and would surely kill him if he should accompany the expedition ; but the spirit could only be exorcised by slaughtering an ox, and sending presents to the king. The ox having been furnished, certain figures were painted with the blood on Magyar's forehead, breast and arms, and a piece of cotton with the same marks was forwarded to the king, together with a keg of powder and some bottles of brandy. The cure was effectual ; the evil spirit departed, the king absolved the stranger from hia promise, and — as a further evidence of his favor — seat him his daughter, the princess Osoro, as a wife. Magyar found the second dilemma less formid- able than the first. An unmarried man always ex- cites suspicion and distrust among the African tribes, and the security of his later residence among the peo- ple was assured by his acceptance of the princess as a bride. The latter was 14 years old, tall and slender, and with as much grace and amiability as could be expected of any JJihe maiden. She came to him under the escort of two of her brothers, and follows d 279 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. by a numerous retinue of slaves, and the wedding was immediately celebrated. Magyar seems never to have regretted his compliance. The princess Osoro adapted herself to his habits, took care of his house- hold, and became the mother of several children, one of whom was one of the prospective heirs to the throne of Bihe. His experiments in agriculture were less success- ful The people cultivate maize, manioc, and beans, but have a prejudice against potatoes and other veg- etables which he introduced, and his only success was in substituting tobacco for the hemp which they had been accustomed to smoke. They raise cattle, sheep, pigs and fowls, and have great semi-annual hunts, when the men of the tribe assemble, surround a dis- trict of country and slaughter all the game which is cm ught in their toils. They are less skilled in fishing, rinee they do not know how to construct nets. They exhibit some natural skill as blacksmiths, but are de- ficient in all other mechanical arts. The family life of the people presents some singu- lar features. As soon as a young man is able to pur- chase a wife, he marries; and his ambition is to have at least two, since it is the wife's duty to support her husband, and the more wives he has, the better is his chance to be supported in idleness and luxury. The women favor polygamy, for the reason that it makes their own labor lighter. The husband has not the slightest authority over his own children. This be- longs to the brother of the mother, who may do as he pleases with them,— even sell them as slaves. Divor cos are easy and frequent, but the right is exercise. i MAGYAR'S JOURNEYS IN THE INTERIOR. 273 more frequently by women than by men. The great delight of the latter is to lie on the ground, smoke and gossip all day, and listen or dance to music in the evening. Magyar was obliged to wait for favorable opportu- nities of penetrating further into the interior, since he meant to combine trade with exploration. His choice of residence proved to be fortunate. The Kimbundas not only learn with much readiness the languages and habits of other tribes, but they are curious, adventur- ous, and always read} T for journeys into new regions. The principal article of commerce is ivory, and, as neither the elephant nor the rhinoceros is found on the high table-lands of Bihe, a proposal to procure sup- plies further inland seemed quite reasonable to the natives. Magyar had heard much of a country to the north- east, called Moluwa, — a temperate highland region, full of forests and with plentiful herds of elephants. In 1850, he succeeded in gathering together a caravan of about 400 persons, and set out on a journey to the Moluwa country. There had been no caravans thither from Bihe for several years, because former ones had come in conflict with the half-breed traders from Lo- anda, and suffered from the collision. But Magyar's proposal attracted a number of the best warriors and elephant-hunters, who volunteered to accompany him. The king gave his permission, although informed that the princess Osoro would accompany her husband. Starting in May, the caravan followed the old native foot-paths, leading eastward towards the Coanza River. The country is covered with lakes and pools 271 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. during the rainy season, which become marshes in the dry months. The tirst district east of Bihe is called Kimbandi, a hilly, fertile country, watered by nu- merous affluents of the TJoanza. The latter river ia crossed at a place called Kujo, where the caravans usually halt, to supply themselves with provisions for the inarch through the wilderness beyond. The Kim- bandi people are thievish and treacherous, but not hostile to travellers. Their territory is bounded on the east by the forests of Olowihenda, which form a belt of division between the western and the central regions of the continent. These forests cover a mountain-chain which stretches north and south through several degrees of latitude. Towards its northern extremity (where Liv- ingstone afterwards crossed,) they have a breadth of eight days' journey, but further south, a caravan re- quires sixteen days in order to pass them. The monot- ony of the dense woods is only occasionally broken by swampy meadows or large pools of water. On account of the streams and morasses, beasts of burden cannot be used, but all goods are slowly and painfully carried forward on the shoulders of men. The elephant and rhinoceros are here found in great herds, and the lion is also an old inhabitant. The animal most feared is the buffalo. Magyar itates that during his many journeys he lost but two of his men from lions, but a large number from the attacks of the buffaloes. It is true that the former is avoided, while the latter is followed on account of his flesh. If the first shot is not fatal, and the hunter docs not succeed in instantly reaching a place of safety, MAGYAR'S JOURNEYS IN THE INTERIOR. 275 he is inevitably tossed into the air, and then stamped to death by the sharp hoofs of the beast. The first impression made by these great tropical forests is solen.n and imposing ; the silence, the luxuriance of M-? vegetation, and its strange forms, excite the im- agination ; but in a short time the scenery becomes very monotonous and oppressive. A singular race of human beings is sometimes encountered in this wilderness. They are called by the natives Mu-Kankala, and Magyar describes them as the most miserable creatures he ever beheld. They are not more than four feet in height, of a rusty yel- low color, and with features which seem a caricature of the human face. Their legs are very thin ; the round, protruding abdomen takes up one-third of the body ; the lean neck bears a large head, with a per- fectly flat face, in which wide mouth and nostrils, and small twinkling eyes are inserted. Their ears are like flaps, and their hair is very short and woolly. They appear to be a peaceable people, and unusually honest in their intercourse with strangers. They brought ivory, honey, wax, and dried meat to the caravan, and exchanged these articles for tobacco and glass beads. These poor people are hunted like wild beasts by the neighboring tribes, captured and sold as slaves. Some of the latter, whom Magyar bought, served him with great fidelity and did not leave him even while passing through their own country. After reaching the eastern boundary of the Olowi- henda forests, the highlands give place to a picturesque mountainous region, inhabited by the Chibokoe tribe, tfho gave Livingstone so much trouble when he passed 27G TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. through a portion of their territory. Magyar com- pares the region to Switzerland. The mountains are mostly isolated conical peaks, divided by deep, wind- ing and moist valleys, which are very fruitful and in- habited by a dense population. The people raise maize, sorghum, beans and tobacco, and are much bet- ter mechanics than those of Bihe. The forests are rich in game and wild honey. The climate of this region is cool rather than tro]>icaL In July, Magyar sometimes found that vessels of water were covered with a thin crust of ice in the early morn- ing, while the ground was once or twice white with frost. The mountain streams unite to form four con- siderable rivers which flow to the northward and ap- pear to be affluents of the great river Kasay. None of the villages contain more than a thousand inhabi- tants : they are simply collections of straw huts, in the forests, and each one is known by the name of its chief. The eastern portion of the Chibokoe country sinks into a great marshy plain which stretches to the Kasay River. Here commences the Moluwa kingdom, which M nryar declares to be the most powerful in Central Africa. He seems to confound it with that of Cazembe, the name of which is given by other travellers as Lon- da, while the king is called the Muata-janvo. Mag- yar's account of the Moluwa king corresponds with that given of the former by Portuguese traders, lie enjoys more khan human reverence: his subjects do not dare to approach him except creeping on all fours, umi casting h and tills of earth upon their heads. His power <>vcr their goods and lives is absolute and cruelly iwcivisod, and the people dare to disobey his com- MA G YAR 'S JO URNE YS IN THE INTERIOR. 277 mands only in the remote provinces. Magyar was un- able to ascertain the exact boundaries of the kingdom, but conjectured that it reached to Lat. 4° N. — a length of nearly 1200 miles, with a breadth of about 400 from east to west. His geographical notes, however, are fre- quently confused, and the accounts he gives require to be tested by those of Livingstone and other travellers. Since the falling off of the slave-trade, the princi- pal article of commerce is ivory. Wax is very plenti ful, but the difficulty of transport is too great to mako it profitable. In the northern and eastern parts of the kingdom there are immense forests full of herds of ele- phants, the tusks of which often weigh 120 pounds each. The price of them is kept up by the competi- tion of the Portuguese from the western and the Arab merchants from the eastern coast, although the two, or their agents, very rarely come in contact. Strings of cowries and white beads are used as money, as well as coils of copper wire, which the natives smelt from mal- achite. The have also iron of excellent quality, from which they forge swords and lances. Magyar describes the Moluwa people as surpassing in intellectual capacity all the other South-African races. They have a tolerably well-organized social sys- tem, based upon certain traditions of their race, and are usually friendly and polite in their intercourse with strangers. On the other hand they are governed by the grossest forms of superstition, and still, on certain occasions, offer up human sacrifices. He remained more than a year among them, tak- ing up a temporary residence on the banks of tho Kasay River, where he cultivated tobacco for his own 278 T RA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. use. The natives, who had previously smoked the leaves of hemp, soon learned to prefei the new plant, and began also to raise it. Further to the north, the people cultivate sugar-cane, pine-apples, bananas, and the oil-bearing palm. An unusual quantity of fruit is produced in the neighborhood of Kabebo, the capital town. This place contains a population of about 50,000, but covers, since each house stands within its own separate inclosure, an area of eight or ten squar« miles. It is built on an undulating plain, falling towards the east. Streams of fresh water flow through the streets, which are laid out at right angles, and shaded with rows of large trees. The houses are one 6tory high and thatched with straw ; those of the king and princes are larger and loftier, but none of them have two stories. There are also several spacious mar- ket-places, which are always crowded when a caravan arrives from the coast with European goods. The dead kings are always buried in the town of Galanje, further to the northward. Each has his own particular vault, covered with a conical roof of straw : he is laid in the centre, dressed in his richest garments, and surrounded with the bodies of the slaves who are slain to accompany him. Two of the latter are always spaml, to take care of the grave, which is kept open so long as the dead king's successor lives, when it is closed forever. The Holnwa kingdom appears, nevertheless, to ho out thinly populated: Magyar estimates the entire population at not more than one million. In the districts to the north-east the villages are large and near together, but there are other parts of the country MA G YAR 'S JO URNE YS IN THE INTERIOR. 2 79 where the traveller finds no settlement in a day's journey. The villages are generally built in the forests, 1 at each is surrounded with its belt of cultiva- ted land, which gives the impression of a bright oasis in the dark tropical wilderness. Towards the east the country becomes lower, the forests entirely disap- pear, and there are vast grassy plains, some of which become lakes during the rainy season. It is to be regretted that Magyar was unable to determine the latitude and longitude of the points he reached. His travels till much of the space between that explored by Livingstone and the Lake Tanganyika, discovered by Burton ; but he is not an exact reporter, and his explorations are thus deprived of their legitimate value. During his residence in the Moluwa country, a son w^as born to him, to whom he gave the name of "Shah-Kilambe-Gonga." He seems to have been greatly flattered w r ith the idea that a semi-Hungarian prince might one day inherit one of the barbaric thrones of Africa. And in fact, in the year 1854, he was visited by a special embassy from the rulers of Galangue and Sambos, claiming his child as their near relative, and endowing him with the rank and rights which appertained to a member of the royal house of Bihe. In the year 1851 he called his caravan together, and set out on the return towards his adopted home, taking a more southern route, which led him through the district called Lobal, ancj across the upper end of Lhe Zambesi valley, although he w T as not aware of the fact. He passed indeed over a small portion of the route afterw r ards traversed by Livingstone, skirting 280 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. the Dilolo lake, and, like the latter traveller, leading his caravan through the marshes which surround it. He speaks of the lake as being full of fish, which the natives catch in great quantities, but, as they dry them without the use of salt, the taste is insupportable to a civilized palate. In the marshes around the lake there are also great snakes which are often found in com- panies of a dozen or more, coiled together in the grass. His followers did not show the least fear of the reptiles, but eagerly attacked them, and after- wards roasted and partook of their flesh as a great delicacy. Magyar's description of the swampy plains around Lake Dilolo corresponds exactly with Livingstone's, of whose later visit to the same region he was apparently ignorant. He describes the land of Lobal, west of the lake, as a region of plains which are inundated during the rainy season, dotted with wooded hills, which then become islands. He speaks of the Niambedji River in the east, and this is undoubtedly the Leeambye of Livingstone. He estimates the population of Lobal at 200,000, — people of vigorous and well-proportioned physical character, but treacherous and unfriendly. They will receive the stranger with every show of hospi- tality, and the next day lie in wait to plunder him. In- stead of forming a nation like that of Moluwa or Bihc, each region has its petty chief or chieftain ess, whoso relations with his or her neighbors are hostile rather than friendly. They frequently attack each other With the design of making slaves of the other's peo as if there were no relationship of blood between thorn. The caravans which pass through Lobal always pur MAGYAR'S JOURNEYS IN THE INTERIOR. 2h 1 chase a quantity of slaves from the petty chiefs, and afterwards exchange them for ivory with other tribes. In some of his later journeys Magyar again visited the Lobal country. Some slaves whom he had purchased on his first visit accompanied him, but not one of them attempted to desert and remain in his native Kind. lie describes one of the chiefs, named Kinjama, as a man more than a hundred years old, who received him with the greatest kindness. A strong contrast to him is another chief named the Parroquet, in the eastern part of the country, who is famous for his cruelty and his exactions upon travellers. The result was that the caravans, whenever it was possible, made a wide detour rather than pass through his territory. Magyar took a south-western course through Lobal, and entered the Buunda region, passing ita capital, Kissembo. Here he again struck the Olowi- henda forests, which he crossed in a westerly direction, and returned to his residence in Bihe. For four or live years he seems to have made an extensive caravan journey every year, and to have followed his original plan of penetrating gradually further towards the east and south. Unfortunately, he has given us no detailed account of any of these journeys, the extent and char- acter of which we can only conjecture from his frag- mentary notes. The year after his return from the Moluwa kingdom, he made a journey to the country of the Kilengues, lying further to the south, and the year afterwards (1853) he claims to have reached the Kunene River, which was sought for so persistently by Anderson and Green, and to have explored a consider able portion of its course. 282 TKA VELS IN SO UTH AFRICA. During this journey lie visited the Portuguese u Presidio de Caconda," of which he gives a curious account. It lies far in the interior, not far from the head-waters of the Kunene Iliver, and contains about 3,000 inhabitants. The fort and town are surrounded with walls of earth, and palisades, and defended by eight cannon, but the garrison consists of only a single com- pany of negro soldiers, under the command of the Gov- ernor. Formerly there was an important trade between this point and the coast, but with the breaking up of the traffic in slaves it has fallen off. The climate is comparatively cool and healthy, whence the Portuguese traders who once settled here, took negro wives, and produced a race of mulattoes who still inhabit the place. On his return from this southern journey, Magyar's caravan was attacked by a band of robbers, in the for- ests of Lusseke. After a prolonged light, the enemy was driven off with considerable loss. lie relates, however, that these predatory bands sometimes em- brace whole tribes, and number from fifteen to twenty thousand fighting men. In such cases, they are irresis- tible; they burst upon the territories of weaker tribes, 6lay, lay waste and capture as they proceed, and leave t desert behind them. We can only guess from Magyar's further notes chat he remained upon his possessions in Bihe in 1854. i.ut the next year he started again, crossed the Olow- Ihenda wilderness, and reached the country cf Lobal. Bow far his explorations extended cannot be ascer- tained. On hifl return he was again attacked by a sarge body of the natives, and only succeeded in repel- MAGYAR'S JOURNEYS IN THE INTERIOR. 283 ling them, after a hard fight which lasted several hours. The supply of powder was thereby so reduced that the caravan was obliged to return to Bihe by forced marches. In 1856 he undertook to revisit Benguela, since it was in this year that the Donna Isabel, whom he met during his inland journey in 1849, rescued him from death ; but in what manner we are not informed. His death must have occurred about this time, or soon after- wards, and thus some of the most important geograph- ical questions, upon which he might have thrown a great deal of light, are left unsolved. What informa- tion he has given, however, bears the stamp of truth. His system of exploration was bold, intelligent and successful ; he, no less than Livingstone, has shown how much courage and an unflinching determination will accomplish. CHAPTER XVI. Livingstone's expedition to lake nyassa. LIVINGSTONE'S narrative of his journey across the African continent, published in 1857, excited the greatest interest throughout the civilized world. The importance of his discoveries was everywhere rec- ognized, and his own determination to undertake a new journey of exploration met with a hearty support from the English Government and the Royal Geographical Society, as well as from private individuals. The object of this second expedition was to ascertain whether the Zambesi River was navigable to a point near the Makololo country, and to penetrate the regions north of that river, so as to connect Living- stone's discoveries with those of Burton and Speke, in Equatorial Africa. The Earl of Clarendon, then Minister of Foreign Affairs, united with the Geographical Society in pro- viding for the outfit of the expedition, and Dr. Living- stone was joined by his brother, the Rev. Charles Liv- ingstone, who had been living as a clergyman in Mas- sachusetts for souh 4 years, by Dr. Kirk, an accomplished botanist, and Mr. Thornton, who, however, left the party soon after their arrival in the Zambesi country, and joined Baroi Van der Decker in his attempt to reach the mountain Kiliinandjaro. The supplies were EXPEDITION TO LAKE NYASSA. 285 procured with especial reference to the regions to be traversed, and everything was done which promised to insure success in advance. The expedition left England on the 10th of March, 1858, in the steamer Pearl, and, proceeding by the way of the Cape of Good Hope, reached the mouth of the Zambesi River in May. The navigation of this river, both as a highway for commerce and means for the christianization of Africa, was Livingstone's first object, and if he was finally disappointed therein, the results of his undertaking are none the less important in a geographical point of view. He brought with him a smaller steamer, in sections, which were then put together and launched, under the name of the Ma- Robert (mother of Robert), — a name wdiich was given by the Makololo to Mrs. Livingstone, when she accom- panied him on the first journey to Lake Ngami. On reaching Mazaro, where the delta of the Zam- besi begins and its arms branch off towards the sea, Livingstone found the Portuguese at war with a half- breed who had forcibly taken possession of the north- ern bank of the river as far as the Shire, and plundered at wilL A battle, of which he was a spectator, took place at Mazaro, but it fortunately ended in the defeat of the native chief, and he was able to go forward with safety. The steamer, driven by the heat of burned ebony and lignum vitse, slowly ascended the river, passed Shupanga, which w T as to be the grave of Mrs. Livingstone three years later, and reached the mouth of the Shire. Here, however, no halt was made : Liv- ingstone pushed on with difficulty, on account of the 286 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. imperfect construction of the boat, which was scarcely able to stein the current, and on the 8th of September reached Tete, where he had left his faithful Makololos in 1856. They were still waiting for him, and their joy at his appearance was very great. Some fell upon his neck, while others exclaimed : "Do not touch him -- -you will soil his new clothes ! " and the native niin- Btrels struck up a chant of rejoicing. As it was low water in the Zambesi, an examina- tion of the Kebrabasi Rapids in the river, some forty or fifty miles above Tete, was made for the purpose of ascertaining whether the steamer would be able to pass them during high water. The result was en- tirely unfavorable ; whereupon Dr. Livingstone wrote to England asking that a new and more powerful steamer should be sent, and meanwhile decided to un- dertake an exploration of the Shire, which river was wholly unknown to the Portuguese officials, who de- clared that they had been unable to navigate it on account of the density of the growth of water plants. Livingstone entered the river in January, 1859, and found that the steamer was able to force its way through the aquatic vegetation, which gradually be- came less dense, and finally ceased, leaving a clear, deep stream. At the villages on the banks the natives collected in great numbers, brandishing their spi and making signs of attack, but when he explained to them that he was not a Portuguese, that he did not deal in slaves, and that his object was peaceful, their demeanor changed at once, and the signs of hostility ceased. Ere long the expedition reached a great iso- lated mountain, called Moramballa, about 4,000 feet EXPEDITION TO LAKE JVYASSA. 287 in height, and wooded to its summit High up on its Bide there was a native village, enjoying a pleasant and temperate climate. Beyond this point the river flows through great marshes, the waters of which are itarred with the blossoms of the lily and lotus. The navigation of the river through these marshes was very slow and difficult. The frequent shallows occasioned great delay to the steamer, and though the native villages appeared to be well supplied with goats and fowls, it was very difficult to procure pro- visions. After attaining a distance of a hundred miles in a straight line from the mouth of the river, all fur- ther progress with the steamer was suddenly cut off by a series of cataracts and rapids, 40 miles in extent, to the first and most important of which Livingstone gave the name of Murchison Falls. The difference of level between the lower valley of the Shire and the upper, beyond these rapids, is 1,200 feet. After establishing friendly relations with the chiefs in the neighborhood, Livingstone went back to Tete for fur- ther supplies, returned in March, and making the vil- lage of the native chief Shibisa his starting-point, set out on foot with Dr. Kirk and the Makololos for a new lake which was said to lie to the eastward. The natives of the country through which they passed made hostile demonstrations, and the greatest courage and prudence was necessary to avoid conflict with them. Finally, on the 18th of April, 1859, Livingstone reached Lake Shirwa. The water was slightly brack- ish, and the shores bordered with reeds and papyrus olants. The lake has no outlet, although several small 2S8 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. riven empty into it. The eastern shore is hilly, while the western rises into a range of mountains, 7,000 feet in height, dividing the lake from the valley of the SI lire. The breadth of this sheet of water was esti- mated at 20 miles ; the length towards the north could not be exactly ascertained, but the explorers were as- sured that it was divided by a narrow strip of territory from another lake of much larger dimensions. Its ele- vation above the sea was about 1,200 feet. After re- maining two days on the shore, Livingstone and Kirk postponed further explorations, returned to the steamer and descended to the mouth of the Zambesi for fresh supplies. In August they again ascended the Shire, wdien they found the natives busily engaged in collecting the roots of the lotus, which they store away as an article of food. When roasted, the flavor is much like that of a chestnut. The progress up the river was slow, on account of the leaky condition of the Ma-Robert, while the travellers suffered terribly from the clouds of mos- qtritoe which hung over the marshes. On reaching Bhibisa's village they left the steamer and set out north- wards, on foot, with thirty-six Makololos and two guides, towards the great lake Nyassa, which, although known through the reports of the Arab and Portuguese tra- ders, had not yet been seen by any European. They soon reached a table-land, 3,000 feet above the sea, with a better climate and purer atmosphere. The scenery was inspiring, for basaltic peaks, from one to five thousand feet in height, rose above the general level, and the distance was filled with lofty mountain- ranges. The tribe which inhabits this region is called EXPEDITION TO LAKE NYASSA. 289 the Mangandia. They appear to be related to the Kaffers, and are physically somewhat superior to the natives aloii£ the Zambesi. The women deform them- selves hideously by covering their bodies with scars, and piercing their upper lips for the insertion of rings of wood or ivory, which are gradually increased in size until they reach two inches in diameter. This orna- ment, which is called the pelele, makes their natuial ugliness almost frightful. Following the upper valley of the Shire, the ex- pedition soon reached the Pamalombe Lake, into which the river expands. It is ten miles in length by five in breadth, and swarms with fish. A native chief living near the lake assured them that there was no great body of water within two months' journey ; yet they were then only, as it afterwards proved, one day's march from Lake Nyassa. On the 16th of Sep- tember, in fact — in less than three weeks from the time they left the steamer — they reached the shore of the lake, at the point where the Shire issues from it, in lat. 14° 25 ' S. The German traveller, Dr. Albert Roscher, who penetrated inland from Quiloa, and made his way to Lake Nyassa from the east, reached it on the 19th of October of the same year — only 33 days after Livingstone, but at the opposite extremity. Roscher was murdered soon afterwards, and his ac- count of his journey is lost to the world. The party remained but a short time at the south- ern end of Lake Nyassa, which they did not attempt to explore further. After a journey of forty days on foot, d uring which they suffered many privations and were accidentally poisoned by eating some cassava 19 290 TRA VELS IN SO U Til A FRICA . roots which were not properly prepared, they reached the steamer. Dr. Kirk and the engineer were sent in a direct coarse across the country to Tete, while Liv- ingstone and his brother followed the river, arriving at the latter place on the 2d of February, 1860. His next plan was to retrace his old route in 1855 and '56, and return to the Makololo country in the upper Zambesi valley, but this obliged him to wait until the month of May before starting. One object of his journey was to take back the faithful Makololos who had accompanied him to Tete; the other to ascertain the condition of the missionary stations which, accord- ing to his advice, had been established in the upper Zambesi valley. He succeeded entirely, in the former particular; but the latter was far from meeting the sanguine expectations in which he had indulged. Leaving Tete towards the end of May, 1860, Dr Livingstone, accompanied by his brother and Dr. Kirk, followed nearly the same route he had travelled more than four years before. His narrative contains some interesting particulars of the habits of the native tribes, but lacks the interest of his first journey. In September the party reached the great cataract of the Zambesi, and then went on to the town of Sesheke, where they found the chief Sekeletu still alive, but Suffering from a leprous disease. At Linyanti, Living- stone's wagon still stood, with his scientific instru- ments and some goods, as he had left it seven y< before! The English missionaries, who with their wives and children had reached the same spot only sight months before, were dead or departed. All that remained was seven graves: Mr. Helmore, hia EXPEDITION TO LAKE NYASSA. 29J wife, Mrs. Price and their children had died of the fatal African fever, within reach of the supply of med- icine which Livingstone had left in his wagon. The accounts of this unfortunate enterprise are conflicting. It seems that the missionary expedition had endured great suffering during the journey, and was poorly supplied ; on the other hand, they were badly treated by the Makololos, and the chief Sekeletu prevented them from removing to a healthier part of the country. On the return journey to Tete, the attempt was made to pass the Kebrabasa Rapids in canoes, the water being very low. It was an unfortunate failure, occasion- ing the loss of the instruments and Dr. Kirk's botani- cal collections. After reaching the steamer they em- barked for the mouth of the Zambesi, but on the 21st of December the leaky craft grounded on a sand-bank, and began to go to pieces. This was the end of the Ma-Robert. In the meantime, notice of the discovery of Lakes Shirwa and Nyassa had reached England, and a mission- ary expedition, called the " Universities' Mission," was fitted out under the auspices of the Universities of Ox- ford and Cambridge. At its head was Bishop Macken- zie, formerly Archdeacon of Natal ; he was assisted by the Rev. Messrs. Proctor, Scudamore, Burr up and Rowley, together with a physician, and some artists and scientific men. The object of the mission was to establish stations in Central Africa, from which Chris- tianity could be gradually taught to the native tribes, Sagether with agriculture and such other arts as might assist in breaking up the slave-trade. The members left in England in October, 1860, and reached the 2()2 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. mouth of the Zambesi the following February, shortly after the arrival of the Pioneer ', the new steamer which Livingstone had requested to have forwarded to him. Although each expedition was independent of the other, it was advisable that the two should act in con- cert. The Bishop and his followers were desirous of reaching the cooler table-lands of the Shire, and there commencing their work, as soon as possible, while Liv- ingstone strongly advised them to ascend the Rovuma River, which empties into the Indian Ocean between the parallels of 10° and 11° S., north of the Portuguese territory, and thence make the journey by land. This proposition was finally adopted, the Pioneer was given to the Universities' Mission, and entered the mouth of the Rovuma on the 11th of March. But the river was rapidly falling, and after an attempt of ten days, dur- ing which little progress was made, the boat turned back. In the meantime so much sickness had broken out on board, that the expedition sailed to the Comoro Islands to recruit. Returning to the Zambesi, the Pioneer was found to be a good boat for the purpose, except that she drew too much water. Nevertheless, by the beginning of July, 1861, Livingstone and his party, with the Uni- versities' Mission, reached the village of Shibisa, at the foot of the Murehison Cataracts, on the Shire. Here very unfavorable news awaited them. A tribe called the Ajawa had overrun the table-land inhabited by the Manganja, destroyed their villages, and carried off many of the people as slaves. Nevertheless the com- bined expedition set out, and marched for a few days without encountering any hostility. They then came EXPEDITION TO LAKE NYASSA. 293 upon a caravan of slaves, whom they liberated, follow- ing their instincts rather than calculating the possible consequences. Others were afterwards liberated, to the number of 148 in all, and the missionaries determined to keep them together and instruct them, as the begin- ning of their work. Bishop Mackenzie accepted the invitation of one of Manganja chiefs, to establish his mission near the vil- lage of the latter, Magomero, a beautiful and apparently healthy place, not far from Lake Shirwa. Before this was done, the two parties were attacked by a band of the Ajawas, but drove off the enemy. There seems to have been some difference of opinion between Dr. Liv- ingstone and Bishop Mackenzie as to the proper policy to be pursued, and the parties divided, the former returning to the steamer to make preparations for an exploration of Lake Nyassa, while the latter settled themselves at Magomero. The Pioneer had brought out a four-oared boat in sections, which were carried around the cataracts and rapids of the Shire by the natives, after which it was put together by two or three English sailors, one of whom accompanied the two Livingstones and Dr. Kirk. They found the upper Shire a broad and deep stream, with no impediments to navigation. The evi- dence of malaria in the air obliged them to hasten on, and reach the fresher and cooler atmosphere of the great lake. The southern end of Nyassa, out of which f Jie Shire flows, is about thirty miles long, by from ten to twelve in breadth. Beyond a high headland, to which Livingstone gave the name of Maclear, another arm stretches in a south-western direction for a distance 294 TRA VELS W SOUTH AFRICA. of fifteen or twenty miles. The main body of the lake, at the junction of these two arms, tyis a breadth of about twenty miles, but gradually expands to the northwards until it reaches a breadth of fifty or sixty, so that from one side the opposite shore canrot be seen. The whole length of the lake is not less than 200 miles. It appears to be surrounded by mountains, but they are evidently only the fronts of lofty table- lands, like those described by Magyar in travelling inland from Benguela. The surface of the lake is 1,300 feet above the sea. It was a stormy time of the year when they entered the lake, for which reason they were unable to cross it, while the air was so thick with cloud and haze that they had very rare views of the distant shores. Violent squalls burst upon them with hardly a mo- ment's warning, and more than once their escape from shipwreck seemed almost miraculous. Livingstone asserts that he never beheld such waves as on Lake Nyassa. Fortunately the sailor who accompanied him was accustomed to similar storms on the coast of Ire- land, and his skill in the management of the boat was of priceless service. The western shore, which they Bkirted, was densely populated. The people crowded tin 1 strand, by thousands, to witness the singular speo- tacle of a sail-boat, and gaze at the strange white men when they landed. In general they were friendly, and only unci- was any tribute demanded tor passing their territory. The Makololo and other native attendants on shore, who carried the supplies of the expedition, could only march very slowly, and as it had been arranged that EXPEDITION TO LAKE NY ASS A. 295 they and the boat should meet every evening, the pro- gress of the latter was greatly delayed. Besides, as they approached the northern end of the lake they found a state of war, and the safety of the land party became so uncertain that Livingstone turned about be- fore quite reaching the extremity. His brother and Dr. Kirk reached the parallel of 11°, where they saw the mountains of the opposite shore closing in, and conjectured that the end of the lake was under Lat. 10°, but it may possibly extend a considerable distance further. After an exploration of nearly two months on and near the lake (on its western side, only,) the party returned to the steamer in November, 1861. Soon after their arrival, Bishop Mackenzie made his appearance, with some English sailors who had gone to Magomero for their health. The Mission appeared to be flourishing : the hostile Ajawas had left the country, the native Manganjas were friendly, and there was every prospect that the missionaries would be able to support themselves, in the lack of supplies from England. It only remained to open a convenient road from their station to the head of navigation on the Shire, and this the Bishop undertook to do at once, in order to meet his sister and Mr. Burrup's wife, the fol- lowing January. The brief history of the Universities' Mission, as it is related by the only survivor, Mr. Rowley, is both interesting and instructive. In their zeal for imme- diately suppressing the slave trade, the missionaries allowed themselves to be persuaded by the Mangan- jas to join in a war against the Ajawas, whom they after found to be quite a peaceable people. But much 296 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. valuable time had been lost before this discovery was made : the situation of Magomero proved to be un- healthy, and before good buildings could be completed the rainy season came on, with fever in its train. An attempt made by two of the members to reach the Zambesi failed, and the Bishop, having received word from Livingstone that he would come for him in his steamer on the 1st of January, 1862, left Magomero with one companion. He did not arrive until the 10th. when the steamer had left : and, worn out with fever and privations, died in two weeks afterwards. Mr. Bnrrnp followed him to the grave in less than a month. Messrs. Scudamore and Rowley then re- moved the Mission to the banks of the Shire, where the former, with Dr. Dickinson, the physician, soon afterwards died, and the few remaining members of the Mission left the country. Another victim to the terrible climate was Mrs. Livingstone, who, after join- ing her husband in January, died at Shupanga, on the lower Zambesi, on the 27th of April, and was buried there, under a majestic baobab-tree. The third vessel sent to Livingstone, the Lady Nyassa, was put together and successfully launched at Shupanga, by the end of June. By this time the Shire River was so low that the new steamer could not ascend it, and the climate of the lower Zambesi was so unhealthy that it was not prudent to remain longer. Livingstone, therefore, determined to attempt the nav- igation of the Rovuma, wherein the Universities' Mission had failed, more than a year before. After visiting the island of Johanna, he entered the month of the river early in September, and commenced the EXPEDITION' TO LAKE NYASSA. 297 ascent. Although the shores were bold and hilly, his progress was delayed by sand-bars and snags, and the stream, only thirty or forty miles from the coast, be- came so shallow that he was obliged to leave the steamer and push forward in smaller boats. The natives along the Rovuma belong to a tribe called the Makonda, a shy, timid race, who feared the strangers too much to molest them. It was with diffi- culty that provisions could be procured from them. Further up the river, one band of these people ven- tured to shoot their poisoned arrows at the explorers, but a discharge of musketry immediately scattered them. Finally, on the 26th of September, having reached a point 156 miles from the sea, Livingstone found the stream so narrow, shallow and rapid, that it was impossible for him to advance further. The natives informed him that he was about 30 miles from a large village called Ngomans, whence it was a land journey of twelve days to Lake Nyassa. The party returned down the river, re-embarked on the steamer, and after touching at the Portuguese town Quillimane, arrived at Shupanga, on the Zambesi, in December. His object, now was to transport the Lady Nyassa above the cataracts of the Shire, and undertake the complete exploration of the Nyassa lake. On entering the Shire River, he found everywhere the marks of death and desolation. The same half-breed, whose battle with the Portuguese he had witnessed at Mazaro, on his arrival in 1858, had overrun the country, 6lain, burned and plundered, until the once populous land had become a waste. In March, 1863, while the eteamer was stayed on a sand-bank Livingstone was 298 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. joined by Mr. Thornton, who had left him five yean before, to undertake the journey to Kilimandjaro with Baron Van der Decken. He again offered his services, as geologist, but having, undertaken to convey provi- sions to the few remaining missionaries in the Shire country, he succumbed to the hardships of the journey, and died in April. Many of the native attendants had also died, and Dr. Kirk and Charles Livingstone were also so reduced by fever that on the 19th of May they left the chief of the expedition, and returned to England. In the meantime, news of the failure of the Universities' Mis- sion had reached England; the part which Bishop Mackenzie had taken in the native wars gave offence to the Government, and on the 2d of July Livingstone received an order to return. Before obeying, however, he determined to make one final effort to explore Lake Nyassa and the country surrounding it. lie set out, with a much smaller party than before, and took a course northwards, on the west side of the Shire, and at some distance from the stream. This led to the discovery of a range of bare granite peaks, rising to a height of 5,000 feet above the sea, running parallel with the river. Following this range he came into the valley of Gova, which gently descends towards the Bouth-western arm of Lake Nyassa. The country was well cultivated, and no serious difficulties were encoi n- tered from the inhabitants. Their greatest fear seemed to be concerning tlie "Mazitu," or Arab slave-traders, who, they related, built broad, flat boats in a bay toward the northern end of the lake, for the purpose of transporting their captives to the opposite side. EXPEDITION TO LAKE NYASSA. 299 Livingstone followed the western shore as far as this bay, which he reached about the middle of Sep- tember. He then turned inland, striking westward in the hope of being able to travel entirely around the lake, at a short distance from it. Ascending a mountain called Ndonda, which was 3,440 feet high, he came upon a broad scantily-watered table-land, where the air was so sharp and cool, that although to himself it gave new life, his native attendants fell sick, and one of them died. For three or four days more he pushed onward, and only turned about when com- pelled by the sufferings of his men and the want of nourishing food. He was upon the high-road from Lake Nyassa to Cazembe, the capital of the Londa country — the " Moluwa" of Magyar. He returned by a more southerly route, striking the lake at a point about 30 miles south of that where he had left. He reached the steamer in November, after a journey of nearly 700 miles, and after resting from his hardships, and waiting for the rains, left the Shire towards the end of January, 1864. In a month he reached the mouth of the Zambesi, where his little steamer was taken in tow by an English man-of-war, and carried to Zanzibar. From the latter port he re- turned to England by way of Bombay. This expedition occupied nearly six years of time, and — in connection with the Universities' Mission — cost some valuable lives. The English Government seems to have been disappointed in its results, which, nevertheless, are of sufficient importance, when we consider what was accomplished for geographical and natural science. The suppression of the slave- 300 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. trade, the Christianization of the native tribes, and the substitution of English for Portuguese and Arab commercial interests require a much longer period of time. Had Dr. Livingstone's task been limited to exploration, he would undoubtedly have done much more ; and his subsequent history is the proof that, in this respect, he was far from being satisfied. CHAPTER XVII. Livingstone's last journey. IN the preface to his last work, "Narrative of an Expedition to the Zambesi and its Tributaries," written in April, 1865, Livingstone announces his in- tention of starting upon a new journey of exploration. He says : " I propose to go inland, north of the ter- ritory which the Portuguese in Europe claim, and en- deavor to commence that system on the east which has been so successful on the west coast. ... I hope to ascend the Rovuma, or some other river north of Cape Delgado, and, in addition to my other work, shall strive, by passing along the northern end of Lake Ny- assa, and round the southern end of Lake Tagnanyika, to ascertain the water-shed of that part of Africa. In so doing, I have no wish to unsettle what with so much toil and danger was accomplished by Speke and Grant, but rather to confirm their illustrious disco veries. ,, In order to carry out this new design, Livingstone was obliged to depend upon narrower means and ar- range his plans in a simpler manner. The Royal Geo- graphical Society contributed £500, the English Gov- ernment an equal amount, and a friend whose name is not mentioned, £1,000. Livingstone was appointed Consul for Central Africa, with power to make treaties with the native tribes, and an annual salary of £500. Thus the means for a small yet sufficiently appointed 3 02 TRA VELS IN so u rn A FRICA * expedition were procured. The importance of the geographical questions to be solved fully justified Liv- ingstone in the undertaking, and the hopes and good wishes of the principal scientific men of Europe and America accompanied him when he left England, to- wards the close of the year 1865. He first went to Bombay, and sailed thence for Zan- zibar on the 2nd of January, 1866. On his arrival at the latter port he procured boats for the navigation of the Rovuma River, and several camels for the land jour- ney thence to Lake Nyassa. His attendants were chiefly natives of Johanna, one of the Comoro Islands, and Mahometans. On reaching the mouth of the Rovu- ma, it was found that the paths through the mangrove swamps were impracticable for camels, whereupon the boats were compelled to go some distance up the river. About 25 miles from the sea a good landing-place was found: the expedition was here organized, and pro- ceeded up the southern bank of the river to the mouth of a large affluent called the Loendi, 30 miles further than the point reached by Livingstone in 1862. There at the village of Ngomano, he was so well re- ceived by the chief, that he determined to remain until the best route to Lake Nyassa should be ascertained. The Rovuma valley is here bordered by ranges of hills from four to six hundred feet in height, and covered with dense thickets. The Makonda people were in- dustrious, and helpful in opening a way for the party. In June or July, Livingstone started with his Jo- hanna servants, and reached the eastern shore of Lake IS'y.i>>;i, probably near its northern extremity. It seems, however, that he was unable to find a boat tc LIVINGSTONE 'S LAST JO URNE Y. 303 transport his party across to the western shore, and was compelled to make a long journey around the southern end of the lake, and up the western side, over the same ground which he had traversed in 1861 and '63. The next information received of his fortunes reached Zanzibar in March, 1867, and came from some of the Johanna men, who, with their leader, Moussa, returned to the coast, and related a story which for a time was believed. They stated that Livingstone had crossed the lake, reached a place called Kampunda, and pushed on in to a region infested by the hostile Mazitus. Here, while they were in the rear, resting with the baggage, the traveller and his servants were suddenly attacked by an ambushed party. Living- stone fired and killed three of the enemy ; but some of the others, under cover of the powder-smoke, ap- proached him from behind, and killed him with the blow of an axe on his head. The Johanna men hid themselves in the bushes, and werenot seen. The next day they returned to the spot, found the bodies of Livingstone and four of his attendants, which they buried, and then made their way back to Kampunda, where they arrived in fourteen days. Here they waited until a caravan offered them the opportunity of reaching the coast. When this news was brought to Zanzibar, all the flags were lowered, and there was a universal sorrow for the supposed loss of the intrepid explorer. Some few, h.owever, — and chief among them Sir Roderick Murchison, President of the Royal Geo- graphical Society, — refused to believe the story. At 304 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA, his instigation, it was determined to send out an ex pedition to ascertain, at least, whether there was any foundation for it. Mr. Young, who had commanded Livingstone's steamer, the Pioneer, was appointed; a small iron boat, in sections, was built and sent to the Cape of Good Hope, and by the 27th of July, 1867, the expedition had reached the mouth of the Zambesi. On arriving at the village of Shibisa, where Young was recognized and cordially welcomed, he found a very different state of things. The Manganja and Ajawa tribes had become friendly, and both were uni- ted in a common cause against the slave- robbing Maz- itus, who were coming down upon them from the north. Some of Livingstone's Makololos were also at the place, and a few of them at once offered their services as boatmen and guides. On the 19th of August Young reached the Murch- ison Cataracts, where his boat must be taken to pieces, and every piece, together with all the supplies of the expedition, transported a distance of 60 miles, to the upper valley of the Shire. On account of the ravages of war, he experienced the greatest difficulty, not only in procuring the 180 porters who were required for this labor, but also in feeding them during the time. When at last, with great difficulty, 150 men were gath- ered together, the bargaining in regard to pay, which must be separately repeated with each, seemed as if it would never come to an end. Young was obliged t< i ercise the greatest skill and patience, in order to accom plish his purpose without losing much valuable time. He left two Kroomen at the falls, with orders to remain there until the 15th of November, when, if LIVINGSTONE 'S LAST JO URNE Y. 305 they should hear no news of him, they were to descend the Zambesi and communicate with the English frigate which was expected off the mouth of that river, about the 1st of December. In case his own return should be interrupted by the Mazitus, he designed to make his way directly from the lake to the Eastern coast. The transport of the boat, in spite of all difficulties, was successfully accomplished, and while the sections were being put together, some natives brought word that, some time before, a white man had passed the Pamalombe lake, and gone on in a westerly direction. This intelligence was puzzling to Young, who, suppos- ing that Livingstone had gone around the northern end of Lake Nyassa, did not suspect that he was actu- ally receiving news of the lost traveller. On the 31st of August he started in the boat, but was much annoyed by the Makololos, who were not only bad oarsmen, but became so excited by the ru- mors of the fierce Mazitus, that they were anxious to return. Young, however, pushed on with them, and, on approaching the Pamalombe lake, again heard of the recent visit of the white man, with the additional information that he was not an Arab, but an English- man. Now, for the first time, he began to suspect that this might be Livingstone. With full sails the boat sped through the smaller lake, traversed the brief additional reach of the Shire River, and on the 6th of September entered Lake Nyassa. After resting for a night on an island, where they were safe from the curiosity or hostility of the natives, Young sailed across to the eastern shore, which had not been visited before, during the previous expeditions. 20 306 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA, By a wonderful chance, he received news of Living stone at the very first village where he landed. A single native stood on the shore, and showed the greatest astonishment and terror at the approach of the strange boat: but when Young addressed him, and explained that he was an Englishman, all his fear vanished and he answered : " The English are good people." When asked why he said so, he de- cl ired that an Englishman had passed through the villages along the lake, and had given many presents to the people. Young then questioned him more closely, and soon became convinced that he wasinde.d on the track of Livingstone. The man stated that he lived at an Arab settle- ment, in the neighborhood. Young immediately went to the place, and announced himself as an Englishman, whereupon the people clapped their hands and cried : " That is good ! " The chief asked him whether he knew the Englishman who had passed by there during the previous cold season. Then followed a long examination: the people an- swered Young's questions without hesitation, not only minutely describing Livingstone's personal appearance, and his method of taking astronomical observations, but mentioning the names of two boys, Chuma ana Wako, whom he had taken along for servants. They also stated that the chief of his porters was a stout man called Moussa. They informed Young that the Englishman wanted to cross Lake Nyassa, but, not being able to find a boat, had gone southward to a village near the Pamalombe lake. The details of Livingstone's journey inert LIVINGSTONE 'S LAST JO URNE Y. 307 rapidly, and the evidences of his having passed around the lake became more certain. The natives picked out his photograph from a collection of fifty, they brought small articles which he had given away, and marked out several of his days' journeys, showing the places where he had rested or slept. A company of Makololos, sent out to follow his route towards the Eovuma, found no difficulty in doing so, until they were prevented from going further by reports of war between the tribes. By this time a large number of natives were collected, and, as many of them were armed with fire-arms, Young judged it prudent to sleep on board his boat, and to keep her at a safe dis- tance from the shore. Having learned all that could be ascertained on the eastern side, he crossed to a place called Chin- samba, on the western side, about fifty miles from the southern end of the lake. Here he heard the same story : a white man had been in the village of Marenga, and had gone on, in a westerly direction. He also found porters, who had assisted in carrying the white man's baggage, but no one had heard of a murder, or even of an attack. Yet he was now very near the point, where, according to the accounts of the Johanna men, Livingstone had been slain. The people stated, moreover, that he only had seven attendants with him : so the treacherous bearers of the evil tidings must have already deserted him. Young's next movement was to the village of Marenga, where he was heartily welcomed by the chief, who immediately asked after Livingstone. Ho voluntarily related that the latter had visited him, had 308 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. been carried in his boat further up the lake, while the Johanna porters went on by land. Two days after- wards he was surprised by the return of the latter, who declared that they were going home. Livingstone, however, had quietly continued his journey inland towards the north-west, and the chief produced several porters who had accompanied him a part of the way. All doubt was- now dispelled ; both Livingstone's safety and his success up to this point were estab- lished, and there seemed better grounds than ever for hoping that he would finally carry out his great under- taking. After several days of festivity in Marenga's village, Young started on his return on the 20th of September. He doubled Cape Maclear, which divides the two southern arms of the lake, rising 2,000 feet above the water, and then sailed to Mapunda, where the Shires issues from Lake Nyassa. Here he learned that Liv- ingstone's boy, Wako, had been left, on account of an injury to his leg, which afterwards healed. The boy was then absent, but the natives showed Young a book in which he had written his name. Young left a let- ter for him, and then commenced the descent of the Shire. On reaching the commencement of the rapids, where it was necessary to take the boat to pieces, there were no natives to be seen. The party were suffering from hunger, and in the desolated and depopulated region around, no supplies wore to be had. A dead hippopotamus which came floating down the stream was seized and eagerly de von red by the natives. How- ever, when the arrival of the party became known, 150 LIVINGSTONE 'S LA ST JO URNE Y. 3Q9 men soon appeared, eager to be employed in carrying the pieces of the boat to the lower river. With a heat of 110° in the shade, when the iron sections scorched the hand which touched them, these men made the transport of sixty miles in four days and a half. They were to be paid from the supplies of cotton goods which had been left below the rapids, but the men who had these in charge had neglected to protect them from the water, and they were nearly all rotten. Young, nevertheless, succeeded in satisfying the natives : he then reconstructed the boat, descended the Shire and the Zambesi, and on the 1st of December was picked up by an English frigate. In four months' time he had made the journey from the ocean to Lake Nyassa and back, and ascertained the truth concerning Livingstone, at a small expense, and without losing a man. Not long afterwards, some Arab merchants brought news to Zanzibar, from which it appeared that Living- stone had penetrated the unknown regions west of Lake Nyassa. It was reported that he had crossed the Loangwe River, a large northern affluent of the Zambe- si, which drains the western slope of the great table- land of Maravi (lying west of Lake Nyassa), and had entered the land of the Babisa. The whole country had been devastated by the slave-hunters, the villages were destroyed, even game had become scarce, and the brave explorer had suffered much from hunger. After some months, some brief and fragmentary despatches from Livingstone himself reached Zanzibar. He had arrived in a country called Bamba, or Lobam- ba, lying nearly midway between the Nyassa and Tan- 310 TRA VEL S IN SO U TH A FRICA . ganyika Lakes, in February, 18G7. Here the chief re- ceived him kindly, and he remained for some time to rest and recruit his strength. In October of the same year he reached the Marunga country, near the south- ern end of Tanganyika. His progress was greatly de- layed by the exhaustion of his stock of goods and med- icines, and though many efforts were made to supply him from Zanzibar, the intermediate region is always K unsettled, from the continual wars between the tribes, that there was no certainty that any supplies had reached him. Early in 1869 new letters for Dr. Kirk and Sir Roderick Murchison reached the coast, and gave most welcome if scanty news of Livingstone's explorations. He was on the western side of Lake Tanganyika, anxiously waiting for supplies, and still determined to carry out his original plan of pushing onward to the Luta N'zige (Albert Nyanza), discovered by Baker. He bad suffered a great deal from hunger, exposure and fever, but had lost none of his courage and reso- lution. Since then we have received frequent reports of his situation through the native traders who now and then visit Zanzibar, but nothing direct from himself. The' greater part of the intervening period between 1868 and 1871 seems to have been spent by him in the re- gions west of Lake Tanganyika. The natives report that he made one journey of three hundred miles in that direction, but they say nothing of journeys to the northward. It was known, in 1870, that supplies for him had safely reached Ujiji, on the eastern shore of the lake, and nearly opposite his temporary home. LI VINGS TONE S LAST JO URNE Y. 31 1 His long experience of the native African tribes, and his wonderful success in dealing with them, diminish in his case the risks to which every traveller must be exposed, and those who know him best have been most sanguine of his final return to the world, with a richer store of knowledge than any traveller has yet brought from the heart of Africa. In 1871 Mr. Stanley set out from Zanzibar, with the intention of reaching Livingstone, and towards the close of the year the sum of £5,000 was raised in Eng- land to fit out an expedition, which, at the time these lines are written (March 1st, 1872), is on its way to Africa. The latest news received at Zanzibar, which has an air of authenticity, and seems to be accepted as reliable by Livingstone's friends, represents him as being midway between Ujiji and Unyanyembe, — therefore about 150 miles east of lake Tanganyika, — on his way to the coast. If this be true, and no mis- fortune comes to mar the close of the most daring and important journey in the annals of exploration, he may be expected to reach England during the sum- mer of 1872. POSTSCRIPT. OIX months have passed since the closing para- graphs of the last chapter were written. The belief there expressed that Livingston was still alive has been happily justified, though the hope that he would soon return to tell the story of his adventures has not been fulfilled. His self-imposed task is not yet accomplished : a space of perhaps two hundred miles remains to be explored before the long hidden secret of the Nile is revealed, and he will not return until he has made it his own. The story of his dis- covery and relief by Mr. Stanley, forms one of the most romantic episodes of African adventure, not less from the peculiar character of the expedition, and the boldness of its conception, than the personal heroism, pluck, and persistence manifested in its execution, and the rare good fortune with which it was rewarded. The report that Livingston was pushing eastward from Ujiji toward Unyanyembe, proved to be with- out foundation. Mr. Stanley left the latter place late in September, 1871, and early in the following No- vember, — spite of wars and rumors of wars, treacher- ous servants, blackmailing chiefs, mountain fever, and all the other obstacles to African travel, — he arrived at Ujiji, whither Livingston had just come from a tramp of more than four hundred miles beneath a POSTSCRIPT. 313 vertical tropical sun, "a mere ruckle of bones," to use his own words, " dying on his feet," " baffled, worried, and defeated," having been turned back from his ex- ploration of the Manyema country, by the refusal of his cowardly and mutinous servant to go on. The arrival of Mr. Stanley was most opportune. The supplies that had been sent by the English Govern- ment to Ujiji, on which Livingston depended for the prosecution of his researches, had been stolen by the agent to whom they had been intrusted ; and the sorely disappointed, almost disheartened explorer, found himself at Ujiji, sixteen days before Mr. Stan- ley came, travel- worn, ill, and dejected, and reduced almost to beggary. His letters to the coast had been so often destroyed by the Arabs, who dreaded any exposure of their horrid practices in obtaining slaves, that he had relinquished all hope of ever obtaining help from Zanzibar, and had determined, when he became stronger, " to work his way down to Mteza or Baker for help and men." But assistance came when least expected. A vague rumor had reached Ujiji, shortly before his arrival there, that an Englishman had come to Unyanyembe with boats, horses, men, and goods in abundance. " It was in vain," Dr. Livingston writes, "to conjecture who this could be ; and my eager inquiries were met by answers so contradictory that I began to doubt if any stranger had come at all. But one day, I cannot say which, for I was three weeks too fast in my reck- oning, my man Susi came dashing up in great excite- ment, and gasped out, " An Englishman coming ; see him I " and off he ran to meet him. The American 314 TRAVELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. flag at the head of the caravan told me the nationality of the stranger. It was Henry M. Stanley, the trav- elling correspondent of the New York Herald, sent by the son of the editor, James Gordon Bennett, Jr., at an expense of £4,000, to obtain correct information about me if living, and if dead to bring home my bones. The kindness was extreme, and made my whole frame thrill with excitement and gratitude." This sudden change of fortune had the happiest effect on the forlorn explorer. The possession of sup- plies, the strange news that the deliverer had to tell of the events of the past six years, and more than all the assurance that he was neither abandoned nor for- gotten by his friends at home, brought new life and strength and hope to him. " It was, indeed, over- whelming " he wrote to the proprietor of the Herald, " and I said in my soul, 4 Let the richest blessings descend from the Highest on you and yours.' ' As stated (page 302), Dr. Livingston left the coast early in 1866, with an expedition consisting of twelve Sepoys, nine Johanna men, seven liberated slaves, and two Zambezi men, with six camels, three buffaloes, two mules, and three donkeys. The Sepoys armed with Enfield rifles were to serve as guards. The ex- pedition pursued a difficult route up the left bank of the Rovuma River, through jungles impenetrable to the camels. The way had to be hewn out with axes, and progress was constantly retarded by the unwil- lingness of the Sepoys and the Johanna men to work. The Sepoys were rebellious from the outset, and soon proved themselves utterly worthless as an escort. To stop the advance of the expedition, they maltreated POSTSCRIPT. 815 the animals, so that in a few days not one remained alive. Failing to gain their end in this way, they be gan to tamper with the natives, setting them against their commander by false reports of strange practices on his part. Finding the Sepoys useless as guards and dangerous as members of the expedition, Livingston paid them their wages, and sent them back to the coast. With his diminished company he pushed on through an uninhabited wilderness, suffering much from hunger and desertion, until he reached a village belonging to a Mahiya chief, eight days' march south of the Rovuma, and overlooking the watershed of Lake Nyassa. Two of the liberated slaves deserted while on the road to Mponda's country, near the lake, where he arrived early in August. At this point his un- grateful 'protege Wakotani demanded his discharge, falsely alleging that he had found a sister in Mponda's favorite wife, that his " big brother " lived near there, and that his family lived across the lake. Though convinced that these stories were untrue, Livingston released him, and pushed on to the lake, to minister to a Babisa chief who required medicine for a skin disease. While at the village of this chief a half-caste Arab arrived from the western shore of the lake, and reported that he had been plundered by a band of Mazitus, at a place which Livingston knew to be a hundred and fifty miles distant, north-northwest. Musa, the chief of the Johanna men, was equally well aware of the absence of danger, yet the Arab's story afforded a pretext for refusing to proceed, and he made the most of it. Livingston endeavored to com- 316 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. promise the matter by promising to go due west be yond the range of the Mazitus, but it was of no use : the Johanna men ran away in a body, returned to the coast, as already noticed, and deceived the majority of Livingston's admirers by their lying story of his death. Fortunately Livingston was now in a country that had never been cursed by slave hunters, and the peo- ple were, — as he always found them in such cases, — kind and hospitable. For small payments of cloth and beads they carried his baggage from village to village, and gave him other assistance which made it possible for him to proceed with his meagre force. But this could not last always. Toward the close of 1866, the limit of this kindly region was reached, and the expedition entered upon a country that had been devastated by marauding Mazitus. The land was stripped of provisions and cattle, and the inhabitants had migrated beyond the reach of their ferocious ene- mies. Here the expedition was reduced to great ex- tremity, plagued by famine and lessened by desertion. Robbed of his personal baggage, which his unfaithful servants had made off with, beset by dangers and dis- tresses, yet undaunted in spirit, the explorer pushed on through the countries of the Babisi, the Bobemba, the Barungu, and the Baulungu, into Londa, the dominion of prince Cazembe, first made known to Europeans by the Portuguese traveller, Dr. Lacerda. Here Livingston met with a kind reception, and waa freely granted permission to pursue his search for M great waters." The reports of the next two years' exploration are POSTSCRIPT. 317 of the briefest character, though the results of them are unsurpassed in the history of African adventure. Just before he arrived at Cazembe's, Livingston crossed an important stream called the Chambezi. All the Portuguese explorers who had preceded him had described the river as the Zambezi. Misled by the similarity of the name, and trusting too much to the Portuguese authorities, Livingston assumed it to be the head stream of the river he had already ex- plored, and paid no attention to it. This error cost him many months of tedious labor and travel. Find- ing as he proceeded the books and maps of the Portu- guese seriously at variance with his observations, he retraced his steps, traversed and retraversed the broad region watered by the numerous branches of the Chambezi, until he was convinced that it marked a new and hitherto unsuspected line of drainage sloping northward. In the course of his researches he came upon a lake, northeast of Cazembe's, called the Liemba, from the country bordering it on the east and south. Follow- ing this lake northward he found it to be no other than Tanganyika, whose southern extremity reaches to a latitude about 9° south. This great lake extends north and south, a distance of three hundred and sixty geographical miles, and has an outline very much like that of Italy. Livingston next pushed his explorations ^ estward, crossing the Marungu country with great difficulty, and almost at the cost of his life, until he came to a large lake, Moero by name, shut in by lofty moun- tains. Its surplus waters he found to escape toward 318 TRAVELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. the north through a deep rent in the mountains, pour- ing an impetuous torrent through the chasm with the roar of a cataract. From the south it receives the waters of a broad river, the Luapula, which Living- ston ascended along a tortuous course until he found it to be the outlet of a still larger lake which the na- tives called Bangwelo. The largest of the many feeders to this lake proved to be the Chambezi, which Livingston ascended to the country of King Cazembe. Evidently this grand river, whose northward course Livingston had traced under changing appellations through three degrees of latitude, could have no con- nection with the Zambezi. Where did it flow ? The most intelligent natives and traders in the upper part of the Chambezi valley thought that the rivers of that region ran into Tanganyika. But to do that they must run up hill, as the deep trough of the valley into which the waters of all the great rivers and lakes converged, lay a full thousand feet lower than the Upper Tanganyika. Was the Chambezi the head stream of the Nile ? So Livingston strongly suspected, but he could not be certain until he had followed its waters through the unknown region north of the great lakes he had discovered. That was the next task he set himself to do. Instead of retracing his course down the river, Liv- ingston, for reasons which he has not explained, struck across the country northward to Ujiji, harassed al- most to death by his miserable attendants, who, under the corrupting influence of an ungrateful Arab, ma;le the long and painful journey a period of peculiar and exasperating misery. While at Ujiji, in the summer POSTSCRIPT. 319 of 1869, he wrote the letters mentioned on page 810, and others which the Arab traders treacherously de- stroyed, lest they should expose their iniquitous pro- ceedings in connection with the slave trade. As soon as he was strong enough to travel, Living- ston descended the Tanganyika about sixty miles, crossed over to Uguhha, on the western shore, and set off northwestward through the Manyema country, intending to strike the river flowing out of Lake Mo- ero, and then follow down the central line of drainage he had discovered. At first he was able to travel but two hours a day ; but by persevering he gained strength, and in July he came up with the trading party of Muhamad Bogharib, who by native medi- cines and carriage had saved his life when prostrated by a severe attack of pneumonia in the Marungu country. With this company he journeyed into the interior, descending the Luamo, a river from one to two hundred yards wide, rising in the mountains op- posite Ujiji, and flowing westward. Approaching its confluence with the Lualaba — the outlet of Lake Moero — he found himself among a people who had lately been maltreated by a company of ivory hunters. The feeling against all strangers was very strong, es- pecially among the women. The worst the men did was to turn out in force, fully armed, and escort the party out of their district. Glad that no collision had taken place, Livingston returned to a place called Bambarre, about 150 miles west of Ujiji, and, in com- pany with his friend Muhamad, struck away due north, Muhamad to buy ivory, Livingston to reach another part of the Lualaba and buy a canoe. The 320 TRAVELS rjv SOUTH AFRICA, country was extremely beautiful but difficult to pene- trate. Mountains of light gray granite stood like islands in new red sandstone, both mountains and val- leys clad in a mantle of varied green. Vegetation was indescribably rank. The dense spiry grass, with stalks half an inch in diameter and twelve feet high, was impassible to everything except elephants; and while the party wormed their way along the elephant walks, the rough edges of the grass tore their faces and rasped the skin from their hands. In November heavy rains set in, making the difficult travelling all the harder by deepening the mud. In many cases the heavy weight of the elephants had broken through the subsoil, making deep mud holes into which the travellers would slump up to their waists, or bury themselves, ivory and all. The valleys were deeply undulating, and in the bottoms of each innumerable small streams had to be crossed, and though there might be only a thread of water, the mire was " griev- ous." " Some of the numerous rivers which in this region flow into Lualaba are covered with living vegetable bridges — a species of dark, glossy-leaved grass, which with its roots and leaves, felts itself into a mat that covers the whole stream. When stepped upon it yields twelve or fifteen inches, and that amount of water rises up on the leg. At every step the foot has to be i-aisod high enough to place it on the unbent mass in trout. This high stepping fatigues like walking on deep snow. Here and there holes appear which we could not sound with a stick six feet long ; they gave the impression that anywhere one might plump POSTSCRIPT. 821 through and finish the chapter. Where the water is shallow, the lotus, or sacred lily, sends its roots to the bottom, and spreads its broad leaves over the floating bridge so as to make believe that them at is its own ; but the grass referred to is the real felting and sup- porting agent, for it often performs duty as bridge where no lilies grow. The bridge is called by Many- ema "kintefwetefwe," as if he who first coined it was gasping for breath after plunging over a mile of it." Everywhere in this primeval wilderness the accu- mulated ivory of ages lay rotting on the ground, and the unsophisticated natives were willing to collect it for nominal payments of beads and copper bracelets. News of such abundance of cheap ivory no sooner reached Ujiji than a " rush " set in for the Manyema country, and Livingston was soon overtaken by a horde numbering six hundred muskets, every man eager for the precious tusks. Unwilling to bear the new-comers' company, and suffering from the effects of bad water and frequent wetting, the explorer re- turned seven days' journey southwest to a camp formed by the head men of the ivory traders, and on the 7th of February went into winter quarters. He had no medicine, but rest, shelter, boiling all the water he used, and a new potato found among the natives, served as restoratives, and he soon regained his health. The rains continued into July ; fifty-two inches fell, and the mud from the clayey soil was awful, exhausting the strongest men notwithstanding their intense eagerness for ivory. As soon as it was possible to travel, Livingston lost 21 322 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. no time in preparing to follow the river ; but his at- tendants preferred the easy life of the camp, where they were fed and lodged by the slave women whose husbands were away in search of ivory. At first they pretended to fear going into a canoe. Livingston con- sented to go without one. Then they pretended to fear the people, though the inhabitants along the Lua- laba were reported by the slaves to be remarkably friendly. Elsewhere he could employ the country people as earners, and was comparatively independent though deserted by his attendants. But in Manyema no one could be induced to go into the next district for fear of being killed and eaten. He was at the mercy of those who had been Moslem slaves, and who knew that in thwarting him they had the sympathy of all the Moslems in the country, and they took ad- vantage of the situation. With only three attendants he went on towards the northwest in ignorance that, the great river flowed west by south ; and there was no one who could correct his mistake. Muhamad's people went further on in the forest than he could, and came to the mountainous country of the Balegga, who collected in large numbers, and demanded of the strangers why they came. " We came to buy ivory," was the reply, " and if you have none no harm is done ; we shall return.'* " Nay,* 1 they shouted, u you came to die, and this day is your last ; you came to die — you came to die." When forced to fire on the Balegga their terror was like their insolence — extreme ; and next day, when sent for to take away the women and children who were captured, no one appeared. POSTSCRIPT. 323 In their journeying Muhamad's party crossed many large rivers. One was so tortuous that they were five hours in water, waist, and sometimes neck deep, with a man in a small canoe sounding for places which they could pass. In another case they were two hours in the water, and they could see nothing in the forest, and nothing in the Balegga country but one " moun- tain packed closely to the back of another, without end, and a very hot fountain in one of the valleys." Livingston suffered grievously from continual wad- ing in the mud, and for the first time in his life his feet failed him. When torn by travel, instead oi healing kindly as heretofore, they were afflicted with irritable eating ulcers. The people, however, were civil and kind, his reputation for goodness having pre- ceded him everywhere. On one occasion he had a striking proof of their confidence in him. While he was sleeping with his three attendants in a village, a member of a trading party, in camp close by, was pinned to the ground by a spear. Nine villages had been burned and at least forty men killed, because a Manyema man had tried to steal a string of beads ; and the midnight assassination was in revenge for the loss of friends there. It was evident that a reaction against the bloody slaving had set in ; and convinced by the accounts given by Muhamad's people that nothing would be gained by going further in that di- rection, Livingston, now very lame, limped back to Bambarre, where he was laid up many months with ulcers on his feet. These distressing ulcers are com- mon in the Manyema country, and kill many slaves. If the foot is placed on the ground blood flows, and 324 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. 3very night a discharge of bloody ichor takes place, with pain that prevents sleep. The wailing of the poor slaves with ulcers that eat through everything, even bone, is one of the night sounds of a slave camp. In this horrid place Livingston remained from Au- gust, 1870, until the close of the year, prevented by the ulcers from setting a foot on the ground. " I lived," he writes (1870), " in what may be called the Tipperary of Manyema, and they are certainly a bloody people among themselves. But they are very far from being in appearance like the ugly negroes on the west coast. Finely formed heads are common, and generally the men and women are vastly superior to the slaves of Zanzibar and elsewhere. We must go deeper than phrenology to account for their low moral tone. If they are cannibals they are not ostenta- tiously so. The neighboring tribes all assert that they are men-eaters, and they themselves laughingly admit the charge. But they like to impose on the credulous, and they showed the skull of a recent victim to hor- rify one of my people. I found it to be the skull of a gorilla, or soko — the first I knew of its existence here — and this they do eat." Satisfactory progress in the exploration of the river could be made only in canoes with men accustomed to work. Livingston tried hard to get such men from Ujiji ; but all the traders were eager to secure the carriers for themselves, and circulated the report that lie would go from -Manyema to his own country ami leave the men to shift for themselves. He offered a thousand dollars to some traders for the loan of ten of their people, — more than that number of men evrr POSTSCRIPT. 325 obtained, — but the ivory fever was so high that none would consent to his proposition, so long as the hope of getting ivory remained. At hist, in February, 1871, seven Banian slaves that had been dispatched in 1869, with goods for his re- lief, arrived in Bambarre with so much of the supplies as had not been plundered on the way from the coast : " a few coarse beads, evidently exchanged for my beautiful and dear beads," Livingston writes with justifiable bitterness, " a little calico, and in great mercy, some of my coffee and sugar." His tent, which they had used all the way, was so rotten and full of holes that he could not use it. " They had been six- teen months on the way from Zanzibar instead of three, and now, like their head men, refused to go any further. They swore so positively that the Con- sul had told them to force me back, and on no account to go forward, that I actually looked again at their engagement, to be sure my eyes had not deceived me. Fear alone made them consent to go ; but had I not been aided by Muhamad Bogharib, they would have gained their point by sheer brazen-faced falsehood." How the unfortunate explorer was baffled and wor- ried, and finally defeated by these wretched slaves, who had been sent him contrary to his express orders to send none but free men, we have not space to re- count : they were one of the bitterest misfortunes that he has had to contend against. His medicines had been unaccountably detained by the Governor of Uny- anyembe since 1868, though he had twice sent for them with calico to prepay the carriers. He suc- ceeded, however, in curing the ulcers on his feet with 826 TRAVELS IN SOUTH AFRICA, a piece of malachite, rubbed down with water on a stone, and as soon as he could travel he set off in a northerly direction in search of the Lualaba. Aftei several days' journey he found the river, and by ex- ceeding pertinacity he contrived to follow its erratic course, until it entered a lake called Kamolondo, in about 6 deg. 30 min. south. Then he retraced the river southward to where he had seen it issue from Lake Moero. Descending the Lualaba again — a broad and curiously tortuous stream — he returned to Lake Kamolondo, explored it, and then pushed his investigations down the stream, which issues from it. He found it to bear the same name below as above the lake, and to distinguish the upper portion he called it Webb's Lualaba, in honor of one of his oldest and most consistent friends. Away to southwest of Kamolondo is another large lake which discharges its waters into the Lualaba, through a large river called the Loeki, or Lomami. To this lake, which is known as Chebungo by the natives, Livingston gave the name of Lincoln, in honor of our martyred President. A large river called the Lufira, flows into the Lualaba, a little north of Lake Kamolondo ; and many other important streams help to swell its waters, as it sweeps through many and crooked windings northward to another great lake, which Livingston was unable to reach. His Banian slaves refused to go on, fearing they said to enter a country where there were no Moslems. He waited three months for the arrival of a friend named Dugumbe, who was on the way from Ujiji with a caravan of two hundred guns and nine under-traders with their peoole As soon as he came. POSTSCRIPT. 327 Livingston endeavored to hire ten men and a canoe, that he might finish his geographical work without the Banians. His proposition was agreed to, but Du- giimbe required a few days to consult his associates. Two days after, June 13th, a massacre was perpe- trated, which filled Livingston with such intolerable loathing that he resolved to yield to the Banian slaves, return to Ujiji, get men from the coast, and try to finish his work by going outside the area of Ujijian bloodshed, instead of vainly trying from its interior outwards. We quote at length his description of that dreadful affair, for the double view it gives of native life, and the horrors of slave hunting : — " Dugumbe's people built their huts on the right bank of the Lualaba, at a market place called Nyanwe. On hearing that the head slave of a trader at Ujiji had, in order to get canoes cheap, mixed blood with the head men of the Bagenya on the left bank, they were disgusted with his assurance, and resolved to punish him and make an impression in the country in favor of their own greatness by an assault on the market people, and on all the Bagenya who had dared to make friendship with any but themselves. Tagamoio, the principal under-trader of Du- gumbe's party, was the perpetrator. The market was attended every fourth day by between two thousand and three thousand people. It was held on a long slope of land which, down at the river, ended in a creek capable of containing between fifty and sixty large canoes. The majority of the market people were women, many of them very pretty. The people west of the river brought fish, salt, pepper, oil, grass-cloth, iron, fowls, goats, sheep, pigs, in great numbers, to exchange with those cast of the river for cassava grain, potatoes, and other farinaceous products. They have a strong sense of natural justice, and all unite in forcing each other to fair dealing. At first my presence made them all afraid, but wishing to gain their confidence, which my enemies tried to undermine or prevent, I went among them frequently, 328 TRAVELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. and when they saw no harm in me became very gracious ; the bargaining was the finest acting I ever saw. I understood but few of the words that flew off the glib tongues of the women, but their gestures spoke plainly. I took sketches of the fifteen va- rieties of fish brought in, to compare them with those of the Nile farther down, and all were eager to tell their names. But on the date referred to I had left the market only a minute or two when three men whom I had seen with guns, and felt inclined to re- prove them for bringing them into the market place, but had reiVa-ned by attributing it to ignorance in new-comers, began to fire into the dense crowd around them. Another party, down at the canoes, rained their balls on the panic-struck multitude that rushed into these vessels. All threw away their goods, the men forgot their paddles, the canoes were jammed in the creek and could not be got out quick enough, so many men and women sprung into the water. The women of the left bank are expert divers for oysters, and a long line of heads showed a crowd strik- ing out for an island a mile off ; to gain it they had to turn the left shoulder against a current of between a mile and a half to two miles an hour. Had they gone diagonally with the current, though that would have been three miles, many would have gained the shore. It was horrible to see one head after another disappear, some calmly, others throwing their arms high up to- wards the Great Father of all, and going down. Some of the men who got canoes out of the crowd paddled quick, with hands and arms, to help their friends; three took people in till they all sank together. One man had clearly lost his head, for he paddled a canoe, which would have held fifty people, s'raight up stream nowhere. The Arabs estimated the loss at between four and five hundred souls. Dugumbe sent out some of his men in one of thirty canoes, which the owners in their fright could not extricate, to save the sinking. One lady refused to be taken on board because she thought that she was to be made a slave ; but l.e rescued twenty-one, and of his own accord sent them next day home. Many escaped and came to me, and were restored to their friends. When the firing began on the terror-stricken crowd at the canoes, Tagamoio's band began their assault on the people on the west of the river, and continued the fire all day POSTSCRIPT. 329 1 counted seventeen villages in flames, and next day six. Du- gumbe's power over the underlings is limited, but he ordered them to cease shooting. Those in the market were so reckless they shot two of their own number. Tagamoio's crew came back next day, in canoes, shouting and firing off their guns as if be- lieving that they were worthy of renown. " Next day about twenty head men fled from the west bank and came to my house. There was no occasion now to tell them that the English had no desire for human blood. They begged hard that \ should go over with them and settle with them, and arrange where the new dwellings of each should be. I was so ashamed of the bloody Moslem company in which I found myself that I was unable to look at the Manyema. I confessed my grief and shame, and was entreated, if I must go, not to leave them now. Dugumbe spoke kindly to them, and would protect them as well as he could against his own people ; but when I went to Tagamoio to ask back the wives and daughters of some of the head men, he always ran off and hid himself. u This massacre was the most terrible scene I ever saw. I can- not describe my feelings, and am thankful that I did not give way to them, but by Dugumbe's advice, avoided a bloody feud with men who, for the time, seemed turned into demons. The whole transaction was the more deplorable, inasmuch as we have always heard from the Manyema that though the men of the dis- tricts may be engaged in actual hostilities, the women pass from one market place to another with their wares, and were never known to be molested. The change has come only with these alien bloodhounds, and all the bloodshed has taken place in order that captives might be seized where it could be done with- out danger, and in order that the slaving privileges of a petty sultan should produce abundant fruit." Heartsore and depressed in spirit by these terrible instances of " man's inhumanity to man," Livingston turned his back on the object of his hopes, and started on a long and weary tramp to Ujiji, under a blazing tropical sun. Almost every step of those wretched five hundred miles was in pain. " I felt as if dying 530 TRAVELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. on my feet/' he writes ; and he came very near death in a more summary way. Outrage after outrage was heaped on the poor Manyema people by the trading companies until they could endure it no longer. As soon as trouble began the scattered camps of ivory seekers begged to be taken into Livingston's company, and he could not refuse them. No more could he restrain their ex- cesses, or escape sharing the blame of them. On one occasion the party had to pass through five hours of forest thronged with exasperated natives, bent on re- venging the enslavement and death of their relatives. The vegetation was so dense that they could not see their foes. " Our people in front peered into every little opening in the dense thicket before they would venture past it ; this detained the rear, and two persons near to me were slain. A large spear lunged past close behind ; another missed me by about a foot in front. Coming to a part of the forest of about a hundred yards cleared for cultivation, I observed that fire had been applied to one of the gigantic trees, made still higher by growing on an ant-hill twenty or more feet high. Hearing the crack that told the fire had eaten through, I felt that there was no danger, it looked so far away, till it appeared coming right down toward me. I ran a few paces back, and it came to the ground only one yard off, broke in several lengths, and covered me with a cloud of dust. My attendants ran back, exclaiming, 'Pence, pei you will finish your work in spite of all these people, and in 6pite of everything.' I, too, took it as an omen of good that I had three narrow escapes from death in one day. " The Manyema are expert at throwing the spear, and as I had a glance of him whose spear missed by less than an inch behind, and he was not ten yards off, I was saved clearly by the ^ood hand of the Almighty Preserver of men. I can say this devoutly now, but in running the terrible gauntlet for five weary POSTSCRIPT. 331 nours .among furies all eager to signalize themselves by slaying one they sincerely believed to have been guilty of a horrid out- rage, no elevated sentiments entered the mind. The excitement gave way to overpowering weariness, and I felt as I suppose sol- dier?, do on the field of battle — not courageous, but perfectly indiiferent Avhether I were killed or not." The abject condition of the illustrious explorer on his return to Ujiji has already been described. The results of the years of unparalleled labor and suffering which he has undergone since he disappeared from the ken of civilization, he sums up briefly as follows : — " I have ascertained that the water-shed of the Nile is a broad upland between ten degrees and twelve degrees south latitude, and from 4,000 to 5,000 feet above the level of the sea. Moun- tains stand on it at various points, which, though not apparently very high, are between 6,000 and 7,000 feet of actual altitude. The water-shed is over 700 miles in length, from west to east. The springs that rise on it are almost innumerable — that is, it would take a large part of a man's life to count them. A bird's- eye view of some parts of the water-shed would resemble the frost vegetation on window panes. They all begin in an ooze at the head of a slightly depressed valley. A few hundred yards down, the quantity of water from oozing earthen sponge forms a brisk perennial burn or brook a few feet broad, and deep enough to re- quire a bridge. These are the ultimate or primary sources of the great rivers that flow to the north in the great Nile valley. The primaries unite and form streams in general larger than the Isis at Oxford, or Avon at Hamilton, and may be called secondary sources. They never dry, but unite again into four large lines of drainage, the head waters or mains of the river of Egypt. These four are each called by the natives Lualaba, which, if not too pe- dantic, may be spoken of as lacustrine rivers, extant specimens of those which, in prehistoric times, abounded in Africa, and which in the south are still called by Bechuanas ' Melapo,' in the north, by Arabs, ' Wadys,' both words meaning the same thing — river bed in which no water ever now flows. Two of the four great 332 TRAVELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. rivers mentioned fall into the central Lualaba, or Webb's Lake River, and then we have but two main lines of drainage as de- picted nearly by Ptolemy. " The prevailing winds on the water-shed are from the southeast. This is easily observed by the direction of the branches, and the humidity of the climate is apparent in the numbers of lichens which make the upland forest look like the mangrove swamps on the coast. " In passing over sixty miles of latitude, I waded thirty-two pri- mary sources from calf to waist deep, and requiring from twenty minutes to an hour and a quarter to cross stream and sponge. This would give about one source to every two miles. " A Suaheli friend, in passing along part of the Lake Bangweolo. during six days counted twenty-two from thigh to waist deep. This lake is on the water-shed, for the village at which I observed on its northwest shore was a few seconds into eleven degrees south, and its southern shores, and springs, and rivulets, are cer- tainly in twelve degrees south. I tried to cross it in order to measure the breadth accurately. The first stage to an inhabited island was about twenty-four miles. From the highest point here the tops of the trees, evidently lifted by the mirage, could be seen on the second stage and the third stage ; the mainland was said to be as far as this beyond it. But my canoe men had stolen the canoe and got a hint that the real owners were in pur- suit, and got into a flurry to return home. ' They would come back for me in a few days, truly,' but I had only my coverlet left to hire another craft if they should leave me in this wide ex- panse of water, and being 4,000 feet above the sea it was very cold ; so I returned. " The length of this lake is, at a very moderate estimate. 150 miles. It gives forth a large body of water in the Luapula ; yet lakes are in no sense sources, for no large river begins in a lake ; but this and others serve an important purpose iu the phenomena of the Nile. It is one large lake, and (unlike the Okara, which, according to Suaheli, who travelled long in OUT company, If three or four lakes run into one huge Victoria Nyanza) gives out a large river, which, on departing out of Moero, is still larger. These men had spent many years east of Okara, and could POSTSCRIPT. 333 scarcely be mistaken in saying that of the three or four lakes there, only one (the Okara) gives off its waters to the north. . . . " The great river, Webb's Lualaba, in the centre of the Nile valley, makes a great bend to the west, soon after leaving Lake Moero, of at least one hundred and eighty miles ; then, turning to the north for some distance, it makes another large sweep west of about one hundred and twenty miles, in the course of which about thirty miles of southing are made ; it then draws around to northeast, receives the Lomani, or Loeki, a large river which flows through Lake Lincoln. After the union a large lake is formed, with many inhabited islands in it ; but this has still to be explored. It is the fourth large lake in the central line of drainage, and cannot be Lake Albert ; for, assuming Speke's longitude of Ujiji to be pretty correct, and my reckoning not enormously wrong, the great central lacustrine river is about five degrees west of Upper and Lower Tanganyika. . . . " Beyond the fourth lake the water passes, it is said, into large reedy lakes, and is in all probability Petherick's branch — the main stream of the Nile — in distinction from the smaller eastern arm which Speke, Grant, and Baker took to be the river of Egypt 1 ** The Manyema could give no information about their country because they never travel. Blood feuds often prevent them from 1 Dr. Charles Beke and others, widely known in connection with Afri- can geography, dispute the possibility of any connection between the Lua- laba and the Nile, certainly through Petherick's branch. It is, they say, a question of fact, not of theory. Since Livingston left England a German botanist, Dr. G. Sehweinfurth, has explored the basin of the western arm of the Nile, proving it to be not the "main branch," as Livingston sup- poses. Dr. Sehweinfurth claims not only to have visited " Petherick's Nile " — the river Djur — but to have passed beyond it, finding in latitude 3 35' north, and longitude 28° east, a large river, the Uelle, running di- rectly across the course which Livingston supposes the Lualaba to take. Having its course on the western side of the Blue Mountains, flanking the Alourt Nyanza on the northwest, somewhere about latitude 2' north, and longitude 30° east, the Uelle runs from east to west, and is supposed to be the upper course of the Shary, running into Lake Chad. Such a river, in such a position and with such a course, it is said, must shut up the basin of the Nile in that direction, and preclude the passage into it of any waters from the south. 334 TRAVELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. visiting villages three or four miles off, and many at a distance of about thirty miles did not know the great river, though named to them. No traders had gone so far as I had, and their people cared only lor ivory. " In my attempts to penetrate further and further, T had but lit- tle hope of ultimate success, for the great amount of westing led to a continued effort to suspend the judgment, lest, after all, I might be exploring the Congo instead of the Nile, and it was only after the two great western drains fell into the central main, and left but the two great lacustrine rivers of Ptolemy, that I felt pretty sure of being on the right track." Soon after Mr. Stanley's arrival at Ujiji, he pro- posed an expedition to the northern end of Tangany- ika, to settle the disputed question of its relation to the Albert Nyanza. Though sorely weakened by disease, and much cast down by the disappointments of his last journey and the outrageous robbery of his supplies, Livingston heartily seconded the proposition, and instantly set about making ready for the start. A canoe was procured, and by means of the supplies which Mr. Stanley had brought, a company was soon organized and equipped for what proved to be a rare pleasure excursion to the travel worn explorer. Dis- covering that the Rusizi, the river at the end of the lake, flowed into instead of out of Tanganyika, and finding no outlet in that direction, the party returned from their month's cruise satisfied that Tanganyika was of no interest, except in a very remote degree, in connection with the sources of the Nile. On Mr. Stanley's return to the coast, Dr. Living- ston accompanied him as far as Unyanyembe, where he remained until Mr. Stanley should be able to send him men and supplies from the coast. On the receipt POSTSCRIPT. 335 of these his purpose was to set off immediately for the prosecution of his great work. " It is only a sense of duty, which I trust your lordship will ap- prove," he writes to Earl Granville, " that makes me remain, and if possible finish the geographical question of my mission. After being thwarted, baffled, robbed, worried almost to death in fol- loAving the central line of drainage down, I have a sore longing foi home ; have had a perfect surfeit of seeing strange, new lands and people, grand mountains, lovely valleys, the glorious vegeta- tion of primeval forests, wild beasts, and an endless succession of beautiful man; besides great rivers and vast lakes — the last most interesting from their huge outflowings, which explain some of the phenomena of the grand old Nile." His plan of operation for the coming years he sketches as follows : — "I shall at present avoid Ujiji, and go about southwest from this to Fipa, which is east of and near the south end of Tanga- nyika ; then round the same south end, only touching it again at Pambette; thence resuming the southwest course to cross the Chambeze, and proceed alone to the southern shores of Lake Bangweolo, which being in latitude twelve degrees south, the course will be due west to the ancient fountains of Herodotus. From them it is about ten days north to Katanga, the copper mines of which have been worked for ages. The malachite ore is described as so abundant it can only be mentioned by the coal- heavers' phrase ' practically inexhaustible.' " About ten days northeast of Katanga very extensive under- ground rock excavations deserve attention as very ancient, the natives ascribing their formation to the Deity alone. They are remarkable for all having water laid on in running streams, and the inhabitants of large districts can all take refuge in them in •jase of invasion. Returning from them to Katanga, twelve days \iorth-northwest, take to the southern end of Lake Lincoln. I wish to go' down through it to the Lomani, and into Webb's Lu- tlaba, and home." Nothing remains but to speak of the English Search 336 TRA VELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. and Relief Expedition. Its work was forestalled. Be- fore it was ready to leave the coast, Mr. Stanley arrived with the unexpected intelligence that Livingston had been found and relieved, and bearing a letter from Livingston directing the return of any company that might be on the way with men or supplies for him. With no one to search for and no one to relieve, the members of the English Expedition did the only thing left for them to do — they disbanded and returned. Scribners' New List Books for YoungFolks m *for s lie by all booksellers, or will be sen', prepaid, upon receipt of price, by Charles Scribner's Sons, Publishers,, 743 and 745 BROADWAY, NEW YORK. A NEW BOOK OF LEGENDS. A COMPANION VOLUME ™ THE^BOf^FROISSART" AND THE » BO^S THE BOY'S MABINOGION Edited, with an Introduction, by SIDNEY LANIER. WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY ALFRED FREDERICKS. One Volume Crown Svo, Extra Cloth, $:t. The series of Boys' classics of History and Legend, which Mr. Sidney L?n«er begun so auspiciously with his BOYS FROISSART and BOY'S KING ARTHUR, an important addition this year in the BOYS MABINOGION. a companion to the named volume, being the Welsh legends of King Arthur and his knights. This sen< to receive still further and very important accessions hereafter. *+*For sale by all booksellers, or will be sent, postpaid, upon receipt of price, by CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS, PUBLISHER: 743 and 745 BROADWAY, NEW YORK. The book is romantic, poetical, and full of the real adventure which is so much tnor- tvholesome than the sham which Jills so much of the stimulating juvenile literature oj the day'' — Detroit Free Press. THE BOY'S KliNG ARTHUR. Being Sir THOMAS MALORY'S History of King Arthur and his Knights of the Bound Table. Edited, with an Introduction, by SIDNEY LANIER. WITH 12 ILLUSTRATIONS BY ALFRED KAPPES. One Volume Sro, Extra Cloth - $S.OO. Mr. Sidney Lanier, under the title of THE BOY'S KING ARTHUR, has given the k • a com P an * on which perhaps even surpasses it. However familiar the Ar- thurian heroes may be to him, as mere names encountered in poetry and scattered legends, not one boy in ten thousand will be prepared for the endless fascination of the great tones in their original shape and vigor of language. He will have something of the :elmg with which, at their first writing, as Mr. Lanier says in his Preface, the "fasci- nated world read of Sir Lancelot du Lake, of Queen Guenever, of Sir Tristram, of Queen Isolde, of Merlin, of Sir Gawaine, of the Lady of the Lake, of Sir Galahad, and of the wonderful search for the Holy Cup, called the 'Saint Graal.'" *** For sale by all booksellers, or will be sent, prepaid, upon receipt oj price, by Charles scribner's Sons, Publishers, 743 and 745 BROADWAY. NEW YORK. " That boy will be lucky who gets Mr. Sidney Lanier's Boy's Froissart for a Christmas t . e* int this year. There is no better and healthier reading for boys than ' Fine Sir John;' and thii volume is so handsome, so well printed, and so well illustrated, that it is a pleasure to look it m-er' ^•Nation. L THE BOY'S FROISSART. Edited, with an Introduction, by SIDNEY LANIER. WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY ALFRED KAPPES. One Volume Crown 8vo, Extra Cloth - $.3.00. " As you read of the fair knights and the foul knights, — for Froissart tells of both, it cannot but occur to you that somehow it seems harder to be a good knight nowada than it was then. . . . Nevertheless the same qualities which made a manful fighter the make one now. To speak the very truth ; to perform a promise to the utmost; to rev< ence all women; to maintain right and honesty; to help the weak; to treat high and U with courtesy ; to be constant to one love ; to be fair to a bitter foe ; to despise luxury ; pursue simplicity, modesty, and gentleness in heart and bearing, — this was in the oath the young knight who took the stroke upon him in the fourteenth century, and this •till the way to win love and glory in the nineteenth." — Kxtkait from thb Pri *+*For sale by all booksellers, or will be sent, postpaid, upon receipt of price, by CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS, PUBLISHERS 743 and 745 BROADWAY, NEW YORK. A New Edition at Reduced Price. ABOUT OLD STORY-TELLERS. 0* HOW AND WHEN THEY LIVED, AND WHAT STORIEo THEY TOLD. By DONALD G. MITCHELL, AUTHOR OF "THE REVERIES OF A BACHELOR," ETC., ETC. WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS. One Vol., t'-imo, $1.25 The long silence of this favorite author is at length broken, and it is the young people whom he now invites to the feast which he has prepared for them. The somewhat quaint title of the book faithfully indicates its contents. In the Preface, which is addressed to "Grown-up People," Mr. Mitchell very charm- ingly says, "In the matter of books, as in the world, I believe in old friends, and don't tr«»nk they should be laid away upon the shelf without good cause ; and age is hardly cause enough. In short, I must confess a lurking fondness for those good, old-fashioned stories which were current forty years ago,— and some of them maybe a hundred years ago, — written in good, straightforward English, with good, straightforward intent." \*F&r sale by all booksellers, or will be sent, prepaid, vpon receipt of price, by Charles Scribner's Sons, Publishers, 743 and 745 BROADWAY, NEW YORK. A New Hook by Frank 11, Stockton, THE FLOATING PRINCE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES. One Vol., Quarto, Extra Cloth, ------ WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY BENSELL AND OTHERS. $'4*t>0 THE KINGDOM OF NASSIMIA AFLOAT. Mr. Stockton's name alone is enough to make the announcement of his new collec- tion of stories bring a smile of glad anticipation to the faces of those who have laughed over his Rudder Orange and Jolly Fellowship, and remember those excellent book*. Roundabout Rambles and Tales out of School, which are now reissued in new edi- tions in an attractive style. With "The Floating Prince" are published "The Reformed Pirate," "How the Aristocrats Sailed Away," and several equally good Fairy Tales, all of which are illus- trated in the most captivating style. %* For sale by all booksellert t or will be sent % prepaid, upon receipt 9/ price, by CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS, PUBLISHERS, 743 and 745 BROADWAY, NEW YORK. A Jolly Fellowship. Frank R. Stockton, Author of judder Q-range, One vol. i2mo. Extra Cloth. Illustrated. Price, $1.30 Mr. Stockton has given so many proofs of his powers to interest and amuse young: people, that a new book from his pen will not fail of a hearty welcome. "A Jolly Fellowship" is the story of the adventures of two school-boys, who make a vacation trip to Florida. They form a fast friendship with a young: girl of their own age, who is traveling there with her parents, and the league which they make is the "jolly fellowship." They have a g-ood many adventures, get into all sorts of scrapes, and have a good time generally. Some of their experiences are very funny, and so are many of the characters they fall in with. The pictures, by Mr. Kelly, have unusual merit, and are ex- actly in keeping with the text they illustrate. %* tor sale by all booksellers, or will be sent, prepaid, upon receipt of price, by CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS, PUBLISHERS, ; 4 3 and 745 BROADWAY, NEW YORK. New Editions of Old Favorites. ROUNDABOUT RAMBLES IN LANDS OF FA0T AND FICTION. By FRANK R. STOCKTON. One Vol., Quarto. Boards, With very attractive 'Lithographed Cove*. 3?0 I'uaes, 200 Illustration*. Jrrice reduced from $3.00 to $1.59 Uniform witli " linn ndalnmt lUtmblo." TALES OUT OF SCHOOL. A y*tv r.diiin,,. Price reduced from $3.00 t* SI. The constant demand for Mr. Stockton's popular books, which has already exhaustec two large editions, leads the publishers to re-issue them in a new .vnd attractive form a' a reduced price to command a popular sale. \* For sale by all bookstllets, or will be sent, piepaul, upon receipt of price, by Charlfs Scribner's Sons, Publisher 743 and 745 BROADWAY, NEW YORK. * A Novel of Boy Life. PHAETON ROGERS By ROSSITER JOHNSON. One Vol., Square 12mo. Illustrated. Sandsomely bound, $1.51 The action in this capital story grows mainly out of the hero's inventive faculty which manifests itself in horizontal balloon ascensions and artificial comets, as well a! in quieter and more useful mechanical problems. Other characters contribute theii share— Isaac Holman, the learned boy, Jimmy Redmond, the poetical boy, and Nee Rogers, brother of the hero, the impulsive and blundering boy. ***For sale by all booksellers, or will be sent prepaid, upon receipt of price, by Charles Scribner's Sons, Publishers, 743 and 745 BROADWAY, NEW YORK. " For children, what could be better as a Christmas gift than a copy of Mrs. 1> Hans Bkinker; or, the SILVER Skates, of which we are now given a neiv and beautiful edition ? This is one of the most charming of juvenile stories, dealing with fresh scenes and a strange life, and told with sweet simplicity and great beauty" — Cu.v GREGATIONAL1ST. A NEW ILLUSTRATED EDITION 01 HANS BRINKER: Or, THE SILVER SKATES. A STORY OF LIFE IN HOLLAND. By Mrs. MARY MAPES DODGE, Author of "Rhymes and Jingles," and Editor of "St. Nicholas." WITH TWELVE FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS. Hue Volume, l'Jtuo, Clolli, be. veiled edges $1.50. HANS BRINKER; or, THE SILVER SKATES, is one ef those stories which is destined to be a source of perennial delight to generation after generation of children. It tells of life in Holland, a country which changes so little that a story of people who lived there twenty years ago might be told of to-day as well ; and it is marked through out by a vivacity, a freshness, and a healthy vigor, which goes straight to the heart o« every reader, whether he be old or young. *»* For sale by all booksellers, or will be sent, prepaid, upon rtreifi of price, Vy Charles Scribner's sons, Publishers, 743 and 745 BROADWAY, NEW YORK A Charming New Volume for Girls and Boys. RHYMES AND JINGLES. A Xeiv Edition, with addition.* and New Illustration*. One Vol., Small Quarto. Cloth, ___--_ $1.50 Mrs. MARY MAPES DODGE is not only one of the best editors of young people's literature, but one of the best of living writers for children. Her "Hans Brinker" in prose, and her many songs and brief-rhymed stories have been among the most popular writings of their kind ever published in America. In the present volume the child-poems by her, which have had the free range of the newspaper press for many years, are now brought together for the first time. Thousands of children who have learned not a few of these verses by heart will now, for the first time, discover the name of their author. " Rhymes and Jingles " are not written about children but for them, and some of them have been pronounced "without rivals in our language." Every child should have a copy of these witty and beautiful verses. * if For sale by all booksellers, or will be sent, prepaid, upon receipt of price, by CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS, PUBLISHERS, 743 and 745 BROADWAY, NEW YORK. Noah Brooks' Books for Boys, THE FAIRPORT NINE. By NOAH BROOKS. One Vol., 12mo. Handsomely hound, - $1.00 Like Mr. Brooks's Jioy Emigrants, this is a story of American boys. Although it treats of a base-ball club, it is by no means exclusively devoted to the chronicles of the game. The Fairport Nine have their closely contested matches with the "White Bears," and the description will bring vividly before every lover of that manly sport similar scenes in which he has shared. But they also have their Fourth of July frolic, their military company, their camp in the woods, and the finding of hidden treasure with many boyish episodes, in which are faithfully portrayed the characteristic features of American boys' life in the country. It is a capital story, with a manly and healthful tone, and will go straight to a boy's heart. THE BOY EMIGRANTS. ; By NOAH BROOKS. One Vol., 12mo., cloth. New Edition, ----- $1.50 WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY THOMAS MORAN, W. L. SHEPPARD, and others. The Boy Emigrants is a story of the adventures of a party of young gold seekers on the Overland Emigrant Route, and in California, during the early rush to the mines. Since the author was himself an emigrant of this description, the scenes and incident* are drawn from life, and the book may be accepted as a fresh and vivid picture of life on the Plains and in the mines from an entirely novel point of view. While the story is not designed to be a history, it reproduces in a graphic and spirited manner the wonderful and exceptional phases of the life of which it treats. The illustrations by Moran, Sheppard, and other artists, give additional attractiveness to the book. *+*For sale by all booksellers, or ivill be sent, prepaid, upon receipt of price, by CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS. PUBLISHERS, 743 and 745 BROADWAY, NEW YORK. ''One of the most attractive narratives for lads that has been written in many day. It is clean, breezy and natural. — N. Y. Home Journal. DAB KINZER. A STORY OF A GROWING BOY. By WILLIAM O. STODDARD. One Vol., 12»io, 330 pages, - - _____ $1.01 Dab Kinzer is one of the delightful tales that worthily takes rank with " Phaetoi Rogers," "A Jolly Fellowship," or "Hans Brinker." There is abundant opportunity for boy-heroism and manly adventure in the nautical expeditions of Dab and his friends and the triumphs and achievements as well as the trials and tribulations of boy-lif( furnish ample diversity of plot and incident. CRITICAL. NOTICES. ik A really good story for boys is a good story for anybody and everybody. Just such is furnishec in the volume before us." — Davenport Gazette. "It fairly brims over with humor, and it is as breezy all through as the Long Island shore whereoi Dab Kinzer lived.' 1 — American Rural Home. " The book is enlivened with a racy and genuine humor. It is, moreover, notably healthy in it! tone, and in every way is just the thing for boys." — Philadelphia North American. " It is full of fun, liveliness, and entertainment. Dab Kinzer will be voted a good fellow, wheth- er at home, at school, or out fishing." — Portland Press. " It is written in that peculiarly happy vein which enchants while it instructs, and is one of thost thoroughly excellent bits of juvenile literature which now and then crop out from the surface of a mass of common-place."— Philadelphia Press. " In a literary point of view, we are inclined to rank this book among the first of its kind * * * A father who wants his boy to grow up in a manly way, may find in such books something to help hiro amazingly," —Christian Intelligencer. Uniform, with " Dab Kinzer." THE QUARTET. A SEQUEL TO DAB KINZER. By WILLIAM O. STODDARD. One Vol., 12mo, 330 pages, _ ______ $ 1 MO Mr. Stoddard's Dab Kinzer proved so popular, both as a serial and in book form, that he has published a sequel to that story which gives Dab a good education and a wife. Nothing in juvenile literature can excel the healthful manly quality of these stories. ***For sale by all booksellers, or will be sent, prepaid, upon receipt of price, ly CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS, PUBLISHERS, 743 and 745 BROADWAY, NEW YORK. STANDARD BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. TRAVEL, HISTORY, SCIENCE AND ART. A New Edition at Reduced Price, BAYARD TAYLOR'S LIBRARY OF TRAVEL. H Vol*., Square f.mo, with many illustration*. Ilandsonn ■' y boun>f JAPAN IN OUR DAY. TRAVELS IN ARABIA. TRAVELS IN SOUTH AFRICA. CENTRAL ASIA. Price per set, in a box, ______ or sold separately tit $1.25 per volume. THE LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA. SIAM, THE LAND OF THE WHITE ELEPHANT. $6.0(1 EPOCHS OF HISTORY. M These volumes contain the ripe results of the studies 0/ men who are authorities in their re* spective jfields" — The Nation. EPOCHS OF MODERN HISTORY. THE ERA OF PROTESTANT REVOLU- TION. THE CRUSADES. THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR, 1618-1648. THE HOUSES OF LANCASTER & YORK. -HE FRENCH REVOLUTION AND FIRST EMPIRE. THE AGE OF ELIZABETH. THE FALL OF THE STUARTS. THE PURITAN REVOLUTION. THE EARLY PLANTAGENETS. AGE OF ANNE. THE BEGINNING OF THE MIDDLE AGES. THE NORMANS IN EUROPE. FREDERICK THE GREAT AND THE SEVEN YEARS' WAR. EPOCHS OF ANCIENT HISTORY. THE GREEKS AND THE PERSIANS. THE ATHENIAN EMPIRE. THE MACEDONIAN EMPIRE. EARLY ROME. THE GRACCHI MARIUS AND SULLA. THE ROMAN TRIUMVIRATES. THE EARLY EMPIRE. THE AGE OF THE ANTONINES. TROY. ROME AND CARTHAGE. * * Each one vol., lfhno, with Maps Each volume complete in itself, anc sold separately. Price per vol., in cloth, - $l.Ot The same in sets Roxburgh binding, gilt top, at the rate of $1.00 per vol. ILLUSTRATED LIBRARY OF WONDERS. The First Series Comprises Illus. WONDERFUL ESCAPES 26 BODILY STRENGTH AND SKILL 70 BALLOON ASCENTS 30 GREAT HUNTS i-x EGYPT 3,300 YEARS AGO 40 THE SUN. By Guillemin 58 WONDERS OF HEAT 93 OPTICAL WONDERS 71 WONDERS OF ACOUSTICS 110 THE HEAVENS 48 III** THE HUMAN BODY « THE SUBLIME IN NATURE 4- INTELLIGENCE OF ANIMALS * THUNDER AND LIGHTNING * BOTTOM OF THE SEA Si ITALIAN ART al EUROPEAN ART. 4c ARCHITECTURE & GLASS-MAKING 6- WONDERS OF POMPEII * Price per single vol., cloth, - - - - The same, in sets of »0 vols., cloth, with a rack. $1.J.? *+*For sale by all booksellers, or will be sent prepaid, upon receipt of price, by CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS, PUBLISHERS, 743 and 745 BROADWAY, NEW YORK. JULES VERNE'S GREATEST WORK. THE EXPLORATION OF THE WORLX Three Volumes 8vo Extra Cloth, with lOO Full-page Engravings in each. Price, $3.50 per Volume. In this chief of his works, M. Jules Verne has set himself to tell the story of all tl most stirring adventures of which we have any written record, — to give the histor 41 from the time of Hanno and Herodotus down to that of Livingstone and Stanley," i those voyages of exploration and discovery which are among the most thrilling episodi in the history of human enterprise. In short, M. Verne has chosen for his most importai book the only subject which he could make surpass his own vivid and realistic stories i absorbing interest : to the treatment of such material he brings all the dash and viv: picturesqueness of his own creations, and it may be imagined that he makes a boc worth reading. The plan of the work is so valuable that it is a matter for surprise that such a hist< ry has never been undertaken before. To trace connectedly the progress of discovery, s M. Verne does, from the time when the world was a very small circle indeed, surround* by the densest of outer darkness, and when the Carthagenian navigators ventured timid out of the Mediterranean, is to gain an altogether new idea of the daring and skill th; has been expended in this one direction. It is a worthy subject for the most ambitiot work of such a writer. The work includes three divisions, each in one volume complete in itself, — I. FAMOUS TRAVELS AND TRAVELLERS. II. THE GREAT NAVIGATORS. III. THE EXPLORERS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURA Each volume in the series is very fully illustrated with full-page engravings by Frenc artists of note; and the volume of "FAMOUS TRAVELS" is made still more interes ing by many fac-similes from the original prints in old voyages, atlases, etc. " The Prince of Story-tellers.'''' — LONDON TlMKS. THE WORKS OF JULES VERNE PUBLISHED BY CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS. THE COMPLETE AND AUTHORIZED EDITIONS. The following works of M. Jules Verne are published by Messrs. Charles Scribner's Sons, by a rangement with Messrs. Sampson Low & Co. of I ondon, in accordance with the right ceded to them t MM. Hetzel & Co., the publishers of M. Verne's works in the original French edition. These volunv contain all the illustrations of the French edition, and are the only complete and authorized books of R Jules Verne published in this country. MICHAEL STROGOFF; or, The Courier of the Czar. One vol. 8 vo . . . $3 < A FLOATING CITY AND THE BLOCKADE RUNNERS. One vol. 8vo ..3c DICK SANDS. One vol. 8vo 3 < A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. One vol. i2mo . . . 3 < THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND. The complete work in one volume, with 150 illustrat ons, 3 c HECTOR SERVADAC. One vol. 8vo 3 c STORIES OF ADVENTURE. One vol. i2mo 1 = FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON Direct in Ninety-seven Hours, Tw nty Minutes, and a Journey Around it. One vol. i2mo. Price reduced to . . 1 « THE DEMON OF CAWNPORE. Being Part First of THE STEAM HOUSE. One vol. i2mo 1 c riGERS AND TRAITORS. Being Part Second of THE STEAM HOUSE. One vol. izmo, 1 \ ***For sale by all booksellers, or will be sent, postpaid, upon receipt of price, by Charles scribner's Sons, Publishers, 743 and 745 BROADWAY, NEW YORK. JULES VERNE'S LATEST STORY. The Giant Raft. Part [. iIGHT-HUNDRED LEAGUES ON THE AMAZON. )ne Vol., Square t9mo f Mactra cloth. - WITH FIFTY FULL PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS. St.so THB START OF THE JURGADA. The series of volumes which Jules Verne has brought out with the view of giving in orderly account of the great voyages and explorations of all times is completed with The Mxplorers of the Nineteenth Century In addition to this volume, a new work >y the same author is in course of publication. It is entitled The (Hunt Raft, and its icene is laid in South America, the title of the first part being " tight Hundred I.< atjum tn the Amazon." Like the recent "Steam House," it is adorned with many spirited illus- rations by French artists, and has all the wonderful interest of scenery and incident vhich Jules Verne knows how to put into all his books. rv *** For sale by all booksellers, or ivill b; sent, pre-paid, upon receipt of pru Charles Scribner's Sons. Publishers 743 and 745 BROADWAY, NEW YORK. M297215 vrrm