He Never Could Trust This Ferocious Chief, However;
And, As The Batoka On The Islands Had Been Guilty Of Ferrying His Enemies
Across The Zambesi, He Made A Rapid Descent Upon Them, And Swept Them All
Out Of Their Island Fastnesses.
He thus unwittingly performed
a good service to the country by completely breaking down the old system
which prevented trade from penetrating into the great central valley.
Of the chiefs who escaped, he said, "They love Mosilikatse,
let them live with him:
The Zambesi is my line of defense;"
and men were placed all along it as sentinels. When he heard of our wish
to visit him, he did all he could to assist our approach.
Sechele, Sekomi, and Lechulatebe owed their lives to his clemency;
and the latter might have paid dearly for his obstructiveness.
Sebituane knew every thing that happened in the country, for he had
the art of gaining the affections both of his own people and of strangers.
When a party of poor men came to his town to sell their hoes or skins,
no matter how ungainly they might be, he soon knew them all.
A company of these indigent strangers, sitting far apart
from the Makololo gentlemen around the chief, would be surprised
to see him come alone to them, and, sitting down, inquire if they were hungry.
He would order an attendant to bring meal, milk, and honey, and, mixing them
in their sight, in order to remove any suspicion from their minds,
make them feast, perhaps for the first time in their lives, on a lordly dish.
Delighted beyond measure with his affability and liberality,
they felt their hearts warm toward him, and gave him all the information
in their power; and as he never allowed a party of strangers to go away
without giving every one of them, servants and all, a present,
his praises were sounded far and wide.
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