They All Saw Through Sekomi's Reasons For
Wishing Us To Fail In Our Attempt; And Though They Came To Us At First Armed,
Kind And Fair Treatment Soon Produced Perfect Confidence.
When we had gone up the bank of this beautiful river about ninety-six miles
from the point where
We first struck it, and understood that we were still
a considerable distance from the Ngami, we left all the oxen and wagons,
except Mr. Oswell's, which was the smallest, and one team, at Ngabisane,
in the hope that they would be recruited for the home journey,
while we made a push for the lake. The Bechuana chief of the Lake region,
who had sent men to Sechele, now sent orders to all the people on the river
to assist us, and we were received by the Bakoba, whose language
clearly shows that they bear an affinity to the tribes in the north.
They call themselves Bayeiye, i.e., men; but the Bechuanas call them Bakoba,
which contains somewhat of the idea of slaves. They have never
been known to fight, and, indeed, have a tradition that their forefathers,
in their first essays at war, made their bows of the Palma Christi,
and, when these broke, they gave up fighting altogether.
They have invariably submitted to the rule of every horde which has overrun
the countries adjacent to the rivers on which they specially love to dwell.
They are thus the Quakers of the body politic in Africa.
A long time after the period of our visit, the chief of the Lake,
thinking to make soldiers of them, took the trouble to furnish them
with shields. "Ah! we never had these before; that is the reason
we have always succumbed. Now we will fight." But a marauding party
came from the Makololo, and our "Friends" at once paddled quickly,
night and day, down the Zouga, never daring to look behind them
till they reached the end of the river, at the point where we first saw it.
The canoes of these inland sailors are truly primitive craft:
they are hollowed out of the trunks of single trees by means of iron adzes;
and if the tree has a bend, so has the canoe. I liked the frank and manly
bearing of these men, and, instead of sitting in the wagon, preferred a seat
in one of the canoes. I found they regarded their rude vessels
as the Arab does his camel. They have always fires in them,
and prefer sleeping in them while on a journey to spending the night on shore.
"On land you have lions," say they, "serpents, hyaenas, and your enemies;
but in your canoe, behind a bank of reed, nothing can harm you."
Their submissive disposition leads to their villages being frequently visited
by hungry strangers. We had a pot on the fire in the canoe by the way,
and when we drew near the villages devoured the contents.
When fully satisfied ourselves, I found we could all look upon any intruders
with perfect complacency, and show the pot in proof of having devoured
the last morsel.
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