So Much Power Was Allowed To This Under-
Chief, That He Appeared As If He Had Cast Off The Authority Of
Sekeletu Altogether.
He did not show much courtesy to his
messengers; instead of giving them food, as is customary, he took the
meat out of a pot in their presence, and handed it to his own
followers.
This may have been because Sekeletu's men bore an order
to him to remove to Linyanti. He had not only insulted Baldwin, but
had also driven away the Griqua traders; but this may all end in
nothing. Some of the natives here, and at Sesheke, know a few of the
low tricks of more civilized traders. A pot of milk was brought to
us one evening, which was more indebted to the Zambesi than to any
cow. Baskets of fine-looking white meal, elsewhere, had occasionally
the lower half filled with bran. Eggs are always a perilous
investment. The native idea of a good egg differs as widely from our
own as is possible on such a trifling subject. An egg is eaten here
with apparent relish, though an embryo chick be inside.
We left Mosi-oa-tunya on the 27th, and slept close to the village of
Bakwini. It is built on a ridge of loose red soil, which produces
great crops of mapira and ground-nuts; many magnificent mosibe-trees
stand near the village. Machimisi, the headman of the village,
possesses a herd of cattle and a large heart; he kept us company for
a couple of days to guide us on our way.
We had heard a good deal of a stronghold some miles below the Falls,
called Kalunda. Our return path was much nearer the Zambesi than
that of our ascent, - in fact, as near as the rough country would
allow, - but we left it twice before we reached Sinamane's, in order
to see Kalunda and a Fall called Moomba, or Moamba. The Makololo had
once dispossessed the Batoka of Kalunda, but we could not see the
fissure, or whatever it is, that rendered it a place of security, as
it was on the southern bank. The crack of the Great Falls was here
continued: the rocks are the same as further up, but perhaps less
weather-worn - and now partially stratified in great thick masses.
The country through which we were travelling was covered with a
cindery-looking volcanic tufa, and might be called "Katakaumena."
The description we received of the Moamba Falls seemed to promise
something grand. They were said to send up "smoke" in the wet
season, like Mosi-oa-tunya; but when we looked down into the cleft,
in which the dark-green narrow river still rolls, we saw, about 800
or 1000 feet below us, what, after Mosi-oa-tunya, seemed two
insignificant cataracts. It was evident that Pitsane, observing our
delight at the Victoria Falls, wished to increase our pleasure by a
second wonder. One Mosi-oa-tunya, however, is quite enough for a
continent.
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