Assistance To Come Forth
Seems Necessary, For Here, Besides The Tough Membrane Of The Shell,
They Had Four Inches Of
Earth upon them; but they do not require
immediate aid for food, because they all retain a portion of yolk,
Equal to that of a hen's egg, in a membrane in the abdomen,
as a stock of nutriment, while only beginning independent existence
by catching fish. Fish is the principal food of both small and large,
and they are much assisted in catching them by their broad, scaly tails.
Sometimes an alligator, viewing a man in the water from the opposite bank,
rushes across the stream with wonderful agility, as is seen
by the high ripple he makes on the surface caused by his rapid motion
at the bottom; but in general they act by stealth, sinking underneath
as soon as they see man. They seldom leave the water to catch prey,
but often come out by day to enjoy the pleasure of basking in the sun.
In walking along the bank of the Zouga once, a small one,
about three feet long, made a dash at my feet, and caused me
to rush quickly in another direction; but this is unusual,
for I never heard of a similar case. A wounded leche,
chased into any of the lagoons in the Barotse valley,
or a man or dog going in for the purpose of bringing out a dead one,
is almost sure to be seized, though the alligators may not appear
on the surface. When employed in looking for food they keep out of sight;
they fish chiefly by night. When eating, they make a loud, champing noise,
which when once heard is never forgotten.
The young, which had come out of the nests where we spent the night,
did not appear wary; they were about ten inches long, with yellow eyes,
and pupil merely a perpendicular slit. They were all marked
with transverse slips of pale green and brown, half an inch broad.
When speared, they bit the weapon savagely, though their teeth
were but partially developed, uttering at the same time a sharp bark
like that of a whelp when it first begins to use its voice.
I could not ascertain whether the dam devours them, as reported,
or whether the ichneumon has the same reputation here as in Egypt.
Probably the Barotse and Bayeiye would not look upon it as a benefactor;
they prefer to eat the eggs themselves, and be their own ichneumons.
The white of the egg does not coagulate, but the yolk does,
and this is the only part eaten.
As the population increases, the alligators will decrease, for their nests
will be oftener found; the principal check on their inordinate multiplication
seems to be man. They are more savage and commit more mischief
in the Leeambye than in any other river. After dancing long
in the moonlight nights, young men run down to the water to wash off the dust
and cool themselves before going to bed, and are thus often carried away.
One wonders they are not afraid; but the fact is, they have as little
sense of danger impending over them as the hare has when not actually pursued
by the hound, and in many rencounters, in which they escape,
they had not time to be afraid, and only laugh at the circumstance afterward:
there is a want of calm reflection. In many cases, not referred to
in this book, I feel more horror now in thinking on dangers I have run
than I did at the time of their occurrence.
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 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 marauders under Lerimo, 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 concealment. We were in bad repute, but,
having a captive 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. They evidently felt
that I ought to have taught the Makololo first, before coming to them,
for they remarked that what I advanced was very good, but guilt lay
at the door of the Makololo for disturbing the previously existing peace.
They then went away to report us to Manenko.
When the strangers visited us again in the evening, they were accompanied
by a number of the people of an Ambonda chief named Sekelenke.
The Ambonda live far to the N.W.; their language, the Bonda,
is the common dialect in Angola. Sekelenke had fled, and was now living
with his village as a vassal of Masiko. As notices of such men
will perhaps convey the best idea of the state of the inhabitants
to the reader, I shall hereafter allude to the conduct of Sekelenke,
whom I at present only introduce. Sekelenke had gone with his villagers
to hunt elephants on the right bank of the Leeba, and was now on his way
back to Masiko. He sent me a dish of boiled zebra's flesh, and a request
that I should lend him a canoe to ferry his wives and family across the river
to the bank on which we were encamped. Many of Sekelenke's people came
to salute the first white man they ever had an opportunity of seeing;
but Sekelenke himself did not come near. We heard he was offended
with some of his people for letting me know he was among the company.
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