This Is, In Fact,
Only A Smaller Species Of That Antelope, With A More Reddish Color.
A Great Difference In
Size prevails also among domestic animals;
but the influence of locality on them is not so well marked.
The cattle
Of the Batoka, for instance, are exceedingly small
and very beautiful, possessing generally great breadth between the eyes
and a very playful disposition. They are much smaller
than the aboriginal cattle in the south; but it must be added
that those of the Barotse valley, in the same latitudes as the Batoka,
are large. The breed may have come from the west, as the cattle
within the influence of the sea air, as at Little Fish Bay, Benguela, Ambriz,
and along that coast, are very large. Those found at Lake Ngami,
with large horns and standing six feet high, probably come
from the same quarter. The goats are also small, and domestic fowls
throughout this country are of a very small size, and even dogs,
except where the inhabitants have had an opportunity of improving the breed
by importation from the Portuguese. As the Barotse cattle
are an exception to this general rule, so are the Barotse dogs,
for they are large, savage-looking animals, though in reality very cowardly.
It is a little remarkable that a decrease in size should occur
where food is the most abundant; but tropical climates seem unfavorable for
the full development of either animals or man. It is not from want of care
in the breeding, for the natives always choose the larger and stronger males
for stock, and the same arrangement prevails in nature,
for it is only by overcoming their weaker rivals that the wild males
obtain possession of the herd. Invariably they show the scars
received in battle. The elephant we killed yesterday had an umbilical hernia
as large as a child's head, probably caused by the charge of a rival.
The cow showed scars received from men; two of the wounds in her side
were still unhealed, and there was an orifice six inches long, and open,
in her proboscis, and, as it was about a foot from the point,
it must have interfered with her power of lifting water.
In estimating the amount of food necessary for these and other large animals,
sufficient attention has not been paid to the kinds chosen. The elephant,
for instance, is a most dainty feeder, and particularly fond of certain
sweet-tasted trees and fruits. He chooses the mohonono, the mimosa,
and other trees which contain much saccharine matter, mucilage, and gum.
He may be seen putting his head to a lofty palmyra, and swaying it to and fro
to shake off the seeds; he then picks them up singly and eats them.
Or he may be seen standing by the masuka and other fruit-trees
patiently picking off the sweet fruits one by one. He also digs up
bulbs and tubers, but none of these are thoroughly digested.
Bruce remarked upon the undigested bits of wood seen in their droppings,
and he must have observed, too, that neither leaves nor seeds are changed by
passing through the alimentary canal. The woody fibre of roots and branches
is dropped in the state of tow, the nutritious matter alone
having been extracted. This capability of removing all the nourishment,
and the selection of those kinds of food which contain great quantities
of mucilage and gum, accounts for the fact that herds of elephants
produce but small effect upon the vegetation of a country -
quality being more requisite than quantity. The amount of internal fat
found in them makes them much prized by the inhabitants,
who are all very fond of it, both for food and ointment.
After leaving the elephant valley we passed through a very beautiful country,
but thinly inhabited by man. The underlying rock is trap,
and dikes of talcose gneiss. The trap is often seen tilted on its edge,
or dipping a little either to the north or south. The strike is generally
to the northeast, the direction we are going. About Losito we found
the trap had given place to hornblende schist, mica schist,
and various schorly rocks. We had now come into the region in which
the appearance of the rocks conveys the impression of a great force
having acted along the bed of the Zambesi. Indeed, I was led to the belief
from seeing the manner in which the rocks have been thrust away on both sides
from its bed, that the power which formed the crack of the falls
had given direction to the river below, and opened a bed for it
all the way from the falls to beyond the gorge of Lupata.
Passing the rivulet Losito, and through the ranges of hills,
we reached the residence of Semalembue on the 18th. His village is situated
at the bottom of ranges through which the Kafue finds a passage,
and close to the bank of that river. The Kafue, sometimes called
Kahowhe or Bashukulompo River, is upward of two hundred yards wide here,
and full of hippopotami, the young of which may be seen
perched on the necks of their dams. At this point we had reached
about the same level as Linyanti.
Semalembue paid us a visit soon after our arrival, and said that
he had often heard of me, and now that he had the pleasure of seeing me,
he feared that I should sleep the first night at his village hungry.
This was considered the handsome way of introducing a present,
for he then handed five or six baskets of meal and maize,
and an enormous one of ground-nuts. Next morning he gave me
about twenty baskets more of meal. I could make but a poor return
for his kindness, but he accepted my apologies politely,
saying that he knew there were no goods in the country from which I had come,
and, in professing great joy at the words of peace I spoke, he said,
"Now I shall cultivate largely, in the hope of eating and sleeping in peace."
It is noticeable that all whom we have yet met eagerly caught up
the idea of living in peace as the probable effect of the Gospel.
They require no explanation of the existence of the Deity.
Sekwebu makes use of the term "Reza", and they appear to understand at once.
Like negroes in general, they have a strong tendency to worship, and I heard
that Semalembue gets a good deal of ivory from the surrounding tribes
on pretense of having some supernatural power.
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