My Deliberate Conviction Was And Is
That The Part Of The Country Indicated Is As Capable Of Supporting
Millions Of Inhabitants As It Is Of Its Thousands.
The grass
of the Barotse valley, for instance, is such a densely-matted mass that,
when "laid", the stalks bear each other up, so that one feels as if walking
on the sheaves of a hay-stack, and the leches nestle under it
to bring forth their young.
The soil which produces this,
if placed under the plow, instead of being mere pasturage,
would yield grain sufficient to feed vast multitudes.
We now began to ascend the Leeba. The water is black in color
as compared with the main stream, which here assumes the name of 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 covered 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 scenery so like that of a carefully-tended gentleman's park,
that one is scarcely reminded that the surrounding region
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 shell 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.
We found plenty of honey in the woods, and saw the stages on which
the Balonda dry their meat, when they come down to hunt and gather
the produce of the wild hives. In one part we came upon
groups of lofty trees as straight as masts, with festoons of orchilla-weed
hanging from the branches. This, which is used as a dye-stuff,
is found nowhere in the dry country to the south. It prefers
the humid climate near the west coast.
A large buffalo was wounded, and ran into the thickest part of the forest,
bleeding profusely. The young men went on his trail;
and, though the vegetation was so dense that no one could have run
more than a few yards, most of them went along quite carelessly,
picking and eating a fruit of the melon family called Mponko.
When the animal heard them approach he always fled,
shifting his stand and doubling on his course in the most cunning manner.
In other cases I have known them to turn back to a point
a few yards from their own trail, and then lie down in a hollow
waiting for the hunter to come up. Though a heavy, lumbering-looking animal,
his charge is then rapid and terrific. More accidents happen
by the buffalo and the black rhinoceros than by the lion.
Though all are aware of the mischievous nature of the buffalo when wounded,
our young men went after him quite carelessly. They never lose
their presence of mind, but, as a buffalo charges back in a forest,
dart dexterously out of his way behind a tree, and, wheeling round,
stab him as he passes.
A tree in flower brought the pleasant fragrance of hawthorn hedges
back to memory; its leaves, flowers, perfumes, and fruit
resembled those of the hawthorn, only the flowers were as large as dog-roses,
and the "haws" like boys' marbles. Here the flowers smell sweetly,
while few in the south emit any scent at all, or only a nauseous odor.
A botanist would find a rich harvest on the banks of the Leeba.
This would be his best season, for the flowers all run rapidly to seed,
and then insects of every shape spring into existence to devour them.
The climbing plants display great vigor of growth, being not only
thick in the trunk, but also at the very point, in the manner of
quickly-growing asparagus. The maroro or malolo now appears,
and is abundant in many parts between this and Angola. It is a small bush
with a yellow fruit, and in its appearance a dwarf "anona".
The taste is sweet, and the fruit is wholesome: it is full of seeds,
like the custard-apple.
On the 28th we slept at a spot on the right bank from which had just emerged
two broods of alligators. We had seen many young ones as we came up,
so this seems to be their time of coming forth from the nests,
for we saw them sunning themselves on sand-banks in company with the old ones.
We made our fire in one of the deserted nests, which were strewed all over
with the broken shells. At the Zouga we saw sixty eggs taken
out of one such nest alone. They are about the size of those of a goose,
only the eggs of the alligator are of the same diameter at both ends,
and the white shell is partially elastic, from having a strong
internal membrane and but little lime in its composition. The distance
from the water was about ten feet, and there were evidences of the same place
having been used for a similar purpose in former years. A broad path led up
from the water to the nest, and the dam, it was said by my companions,
after depositing the eggs, covers them up, and returns afterward
to assist the young out of the place of confinement and out of the egg.
She leads them to the edge of the water, and then leaves them
to catch small fish for themselves.
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