The Intervening Space,
Nearly One Hundred Miles In Length, With The Leeambye Winding Gently
Near The Middle, Is The True Barotse Valley.
It bears a close resemblance
to the valley of the Nile, and is inundated annually, not by rains,
but
By the Leeambye, exactly as Lower Egypt is flooded by the Nile.
The villages of the Barotse are built on mounds, some of which are said
to have been raised artificially by Santuru, a former chief of the Barotse,
and during the inundation the whole valley assumes the appearance
of a large lake, with the villages on the mounds like islands,
just as occurs in Egypt with the villages of the Egyptians.
Some portion of the waters of inundation comes from the northwest,
where great floodings also occur, but more comes from the north and northeast,
descending the bed of the Leeambye itself. There are but few trees
in this valley: those which stand on the mounds were nearly all
transplanted by Santuru for shade. The soil is extremely fertile,
and the people are never in want of grain, for, by taking advantage
of the moisture of the inundation, they can take two crops a year.
The Barotse are strongly attached to this fertile valley; they say,
"Here hunger is not known." There are so many things besides corn
which a man can find in it for food, that it is no wonder
they desert from Linyanti to return to this place.
The great valley is not put to a tithe of the use it might be.
It is covered with coarse succulent grasses, which afford ample pasturage
for large herds of cattle; these thrive wonderfully, and give milk copiously
to their owners.
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