It Inspired Wonder In The Native Mind
Throughout The Interior.
Among the first questions asked by
Sebituane of Mr. Oswell and Dr. Livingstone, in 1851, was, "Have you
any
Smoke soundings in your country," and "what causes the smoke to
rise for ever so high out of water?" In that year its fame was heard
200 miles off, and it was approached within two days; but it was seen
by no European till 1855, when Dr. Livingstone visited it on his way
to the East Coast. Being then accompanied as far as this Fall by
Sekeletu and 200 followers, his stay was necessarily short; and the
two days there were employed in observations for fixing the
geographical position of the place, and turning the showers, that at
times sweep from the columns of vapour across the island, to account,
in teaching the Makololo arboriculture, and making that garden from
which the natives named the island; so that he did not visit the
opposite sides of the cleft, nor see the wonderful course of the
river beyond the Falls. The hippopotami had destroyed the trees
which were then planted; and, though a strong stockaded hedge was
made again, and living orange-trees, cashew-nuts, and coffee seeds
put in afresh, we fear that the perseverance of the hippopotami will
overcome the obstacle of the hedge. It would require a resident
missionary to rear European fruit-trees. The period at which the
peach and apricot come into blossom is about the end of the dry
season, and artificial irrigation is necessary. The Batoka, the only
arboriculturists in the country, rear native fruit-trees alone - the
mosibe, the motsikiri, the boma, and others. When a tribe takes an
interest in trees, it becomes more attached to the spot on which they
are planted, and they prove one of the civilizing influences.
Where one Englishman goes, others are sure to follow. Mr. Baldwin, a
gentleman from Natal, succeeded in reaching the Falls guided by his
pocket-compass alone. On meeting the second subject of Her Majesty,
who had ever beheld the greatest of African wonders, we found him a
sort of prisoner at large. He had called on Mashotlane to ferry him
over to the north side of the river, and, when nearly over, he took a
bath, by jumping in and swimming ashore. "If," said Mashotlane, "he
had been devoured by one of the crocodiles which abound there, the
English would have blamed us for his death. He nearly inflicted a
great injury upon us, therefore, we said, he must pay a fine." As
Mr. Baldwin had nothing with him wherewith to pay, they were taking
care of him till he should receive beads from his wagon, two days
distant.
Mashotlane's education had been received in the camp of Sebituane,
where but little regard was paid to human life. He was not yet in
his prime, and his fine open countenance presented to us no
indication of the evil influences which unhappily, from infancy, had
been at work on his mind.
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