When I Committed The Wagon And Remaining Goods To The Care Of The Makololo,
They Took All The Articles Except
One box into their huts;
and two warriors, Ponuane and Mahale, brought forward each a fine heifer calf.
After performing
A number of warlike evolutions, they asked the chief
to witness the agreement made between them, that whoever of the two
should kill a Matebele warrior first, in defense of the wagon,
should possess both the calves.
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 discouragement
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 to the sun.
We carried one small tin canister, about fifteen inches square,
filled with spare shirting, trowsers, 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 medicines; 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 20 lbs. of beads,
worth 40s., 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"
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" advertised as indispensable
for travelers, 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 instruments I carried, though few, were the best of their kind.
A sextant, by the famed makers Troughton and Sims, of Fleet Street;
a chronometer watch, with a stop to the seconds hand -
an admirable contrivance for enabling a person to take
the exact time of observations:
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