May We Obtain A Path
Whereby We May Visit And Be Visited By Other Tribes, And By White Men!"
On
Telling him my fears that he was still inclined to follow
the old marauding system, which prevented intercourse, and that
He,
from his influential position, was especially guilty in the late forays,
he acknowledged all rather too freely for my taste, but seemed quite aware
that the old system was far from right. Mentioning my inability
to pay the men who were to accompany me, he replied, "A man wishes,
of course, to appear among his friends, after a long absence,
with something of his own to show; the whole of the ivory in the country
is yours, so you must take as much as you can, and Sekeletu will furnish men
to carry it." These remarks of Mamire are quoted literally,
in order to show the state of mind of the most influential
in the tribe. And as I wish to give the reader a fair idea
of the other side of the question as well, it may be mentioned
that Motibe parried the imputation of the guilt of marauding
by every possible subterfuge. He would not admit that they had done wrong,
and laid the guilt of the wars in which the Makololo had engaged
on the Boers, the Matebele, and every other tribe except his own.
When quite a youth, Motibe's family had been attacked by a party of Boers;
he hid himself in an ant-eater's hole, but was drawn out and thrashed
with a whip of hippopotamus hide. When enjoined to live in peace,
he would reply, "Teach the Boers to lay down their arms first."
Yet Motibe, on other occasions, seemed to feel the difference
between those who are Christians indeed and those who are so only in name.
In all our discussions we parted good friends.
Chapter 26.
Departure from Linyanti - A Thunder-storm - An Act of genuine Kindness -
Fitted out a second time by the Makololo - Sail down the Leeambye -
Sekote's Kotla and human Skulls; his Grave adorned with Elephants' Tusks -
Victoria Falls - Native Names - Columns of Vapor - Gigantic Crack -
Wear of the Rocks - Shrines of the Barimo - "The Pestle of the Gods" -
Second Visit to the Falls - Island Garden - Store-house Island -
Native Diviners - A European Diviner - Makololo Foray -
Marauder to be fined - Mambari - Makololo wish to stop
Mambari Slave-trading - Part with Sekeletu - Night Traveling -
River Lekone - Ancient fresh-water Lakes - Formation of Lake Ngami -
Native Traditions - Drainage of the Great Valley -
Native Reports of the Country to the North - Maps - Moyara's Village -
Savage Customs of the Batoka - A Chain of Trading Stations -
Remedy against Tsetse - "The Well of Joy" - First Traces of Trade
with Europeans - Knocking out the front Teeth - Facetious Explanation -
Degradation of the Batoka - Description of the Traveling Party -
Cross the Unguesi - Geological Formation - Ruins of a large Town -
Productions of the Soil similar to those in Angola - Abundance of Fruit.
On the 3d of November we bade adieu to our friends at Linyanti, accompanied by
Sekeletu and about 200 followers.
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