It Was Constructed By Dent,
Of The Strand (61), For The Royal Geographical Society,
And Selected For The Service By
The President, Admiral Smythe,
to whose judgment and kindness I am in this and other matters deeply indebted.
It was
Pronounced by Mr. Maclear to equal most chronometers in performance.
For these excellent instruments I have much pleasure in recording
my obligations to my good friend Colonel Steele, and at the same time
to Mr. Maclear for much of my ability to use them. Besides these,
I had a thermometer by Dollond; a compass from the Cape Observatory,
and a small pocket one in addition; a good small telescope
with a stand capable of being screwed into a tree.
11TH OF NOVEMBER, 1853. Left the town of Linyanti, accompanied by
Sekeletu and his principal men, to embark on the Chobe.
The chief came to the river in order to see that all was right at parting.
We crossed five branches of the Chobe before reaching the main stream:
this ramification must be the reason why it appeared so small
to Mr. Oswell and myself in 1851. When all the departing branches re-enter,
it is a large, deep river. The spot of embarkation was the identical island
where we met Sebituane, first known as the island of Maunku, one of his wives.
The chief lent me his own canoe, and, as it was broader than usual,
I could turn about in it with ease.
The Chobe is much infested by hippopotami, and, as certain elderly males
are expelled the herd, they become soured in their temper,
and so misanthropic as to attack every canoe that passes near them.
The herd is never dangerous, except when a canoe passes into the midst of it
when all are asleep, and some of them may strike the canoe in terror.
To avoid this, it is generally recommended to travel by day near the bank,
and by night in the middle of the stream. As a rule, these animals flee
the approach of man. The "solitaires", however, frequent certain localities
well known to the inhabitants on the banks, and, like the rogue elephants,
are extremely dangerous. We came, at this time, to a canoe which had been
smashed to pieces by a blow from the hind foot of one of them.
I was informed by my men that, in the event of a similar assault being made
upon ours, the proper way was to dive to the bottom of the river,
and hold on there for a few seconds, because the hippopotamus,
after breaking a canoe, always looks for the people on the surface,
and, if he sees none, he soon moves off. I have seen some frightful gashes
made on the legs of the people who have had the misfortune to be attacked,
and were unable to dive. This animal uses his teeth as an offensive weapon,
though he is quite a herbivorous feeder. One of these "bachelors",
living near the confluence, actually came out of his lair,
and, putting his head down, ran after some of our men who were passing
with very considerable speed.
The part of the river called Zabesa, or Zabenza, is spread out
like a little lake, surrounded on all sides by dense masses of tall reeds.
The river below that is always one hundred or one hundred and twenty
yards broad, deep, and never dries up so much as to become fordable.
At certain parts, where the partial absence of reeds affords
a view of the opposite banks, the Makololo have placed villages of observation
against their enemies the Matebele. We visited all these in succession,
and found here, as every where in the Makololo country,
orders had preceded us, "that Nake (nyake means doctor) must not be allowed
to become hungry."
The banks of the Chobe, like those of the Zouga, are of soft calcareous tufa,
and the river has cut out for itself a deep, perpendicular-sided bed.
Where the banks are high, as at the spot where the wagons stood in 1851,
they are covered with magnificent trees, the habitat of tsetse,
and the retreat of various antelopes, wild hogs, zebras, buffaloes,
and elephants.
Among the trees may be observed some species of the `Ficus Indica',
light-green colored acacias, the splendid motsintsela,
and evergreen cypress-shaped motsouri. The fruit of the last-named was ripe,
and the villagers presented many dishes of its beautiful pink-colored plums;
they are used chiefly to form a pleasant acid drink. The motsintsela
is a very lofty tree, yielding a wood of which good canoes are made;
the fruit is nutritious and good, but, like many wild fruits of this country,
the fleshy parts require to be enlarged by cultivation:
it is nearly all stone.
The course of the river we found to be extremely tortuous; so much so, indeed,
as to carry us to all points of the compass every dozen miles.
Some of us walked from a bend at the village of Moremi 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 voyage between the same two places. And though the river
is from thirteen to fifteen feet in depth at its lowest ebb, and broad enough
to allow a steamer to ply upon it, the suddenness of the bendings
would prevent navigation; but, should the country ever become civilized,
the Chobe would be a convenient natural canal. We spent
forty-two and a half hours, paddling at the rate of five miles an hour,
in coming from Linyanti to the confluence; there we found a dike of amygdaloid
lying across the Leeambye.
This amygdaloid with analami and mesotype contains crystals, which the water
gradually dissolves, leaving the rock with a worm-eaten appearance.
It is curious to observe that the water flowing over certain rocks,
as in this instance, imbibes an appreciable, though necessarily most minute,
portion of the minerals they contain.
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