Young Leches Are Hidden Beneath It
By Their Dams; And The Makololo Youth Complain Of Being Unable
To Run In The Barotse Land On This Account.
There was evidently
no healthy spot in this quarter; and the current of the river being
about four and a half miles per hour (one hundred yards in sixty seconds),
I imagined we might find what we needed in the higher lands,
from which the river seemed to come.
I resolved, therefore,
to go to the utmost limits of the Barotse country before coming
to a final conclusion. Katongo was the best place we had seen; but,
in order to accomplish a complete examination, I left Sekeletu at Naliele,
and ascended the river. He furnished me with men, besides my rowers,
and among the rest a herald, that I might enter his villages
in what is considered a dignified manner. This, it was supposed,
would be effected by the herald shouting out at the top of his voice,
"Here comes the lord; the great lion;" the latter phrase being "tau e tona",
which, in his imperfect way of pronunciation, became "Sau e tona",
and so like "the great sow" that I could not receive the honor with
becoming gravity, and had to entreat him, much to the annoyance of my party,
to be silent.
In our ascent we visited a number of Makololo villages, and were always
received with a hearty welcome, as messengers to them of peace,
which they term "sleep". They behave well in public meetings,
even on the first occasion of attendance, probably from
the habit of commanding the Makalaka, crowds of whom swarm in every village,
and whom the Makololo women seem to consider as especially under their charge.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 345 of 1070
Words from 98776 to 99064
of 306638
