A
Scolding Does Most Good To The Recipient, When Put Alongside Some
Obliging Act.
He certainly did not take it ill, as was evident from
what he gave us in return; which consisted of a liberal supply of
meal, milk, and an ox.
He has a large herd of cattle, and a tract of
fine pasture-land on the beautiful stream Lekone. A home-feeling
comes over one, even in the interior of Africa, at seeing once more
cattle grazing peacefully in the meadows. The tsetse inhabits the
trees which bound the pasture-land on the west; so, should the
herdsman forget his duty, the cattle straying might be entirely lost.
The women of this village were more numerous than the men, the result
of the chief's marauding. The Batoko wife of Sima came up from the
Falls, to welcome her husband back, bringing a present of the best
fruits of the country. Her husband was the only one of the party who
had brought a wife from Tette, namely, the girl whom he obtained from
Chisaka for his feats of dancing. According to our ideas, his first
wife could hardly have been pleased at seeing the second and younger
one; but she took her away home with her, while the husband remained
with us. In going down to the Fall village we met several of the
real Makololo. They are lighter in colour than the other tribes,
being of a rich warm brown; and they speak in a slow deliberate
manner, distinctly pronouncing every word. On reaching the village
opposite Kalai, we had an interview with the Makololo headman,
Mashotlane: he came to the shed in which we were seated, a little
boy carrying his low three-legged stool before him: on this he sat
down with becoming dignity, looked round him for a few seconds, then
at us, and, saluting us with "Rumela" (good morning, or hail), he
gave us some boiled hippopotamus meat, took a piece himself, and then
handed the rest to his attendants, who soon ate it up. He defended
his forays on the ground that, when he went to collect tribute, the
Batoka attacked him, and killed some of his attendants. The excuses
made for their little wars are often the very same as those made by
Caesar in his "Commentaries." Few admit, like old Moshobotwane, that
they fought because they had the power, and a fair prospect of
conquering. We found here Pitsane, who had accompanied the Doctor to
St. Paul de Loanda. He had been sent by Sekeletu to purchase three
horses from a trading party of Griquas from Kuruman, who charged nine
large tusks apiece for very wretched animals.
In the evening, when all was still, one of our men, Takelang, fired
his musket, and cried out, "I am weeping for my wife: my court is
desolate: I have no home;" and then uttered a loud wail of anguish.
We proceeded next morning, 9th August, 1860, to see the Victoria
Falls. Mosi-oa-tunya is the Makololo name and means smoke sounding;
Seongo or Chongwe, meaning the Rainbow, or the place of the Rainbow,
was the more ancient term they bore. We embarked in canoes,
belonging to Tuba Mokoro, "smasher of canoes," an ominous name; but
he alone, it seems, knew the medicine which insures one against
shipwreck in the rapids above the Falls. For some miles the river
was smooth and tranquil, and we glided pleasantly over water clear as
crystal, and past lovely islands densely covered with a tropical
vegetation. Noticeable among the many trees were the lofty Hyphaene
and Borassus palms; the graceful wild date-palm, with its fruit in
golden clusters, and the umbrageous mokononga, of cypress form, with
its dark-green leaves and scarlet fruit. Many flowers peeped out
near the water's edge, some entirely new to us, and others, as the
convolvulus, old acquaintances.
But our attention was quickly called from the charming islands to the
dangerous rapids, down which Tuba might unintentionally shoot us. To
confess the truth, the very ugly aspect of these roaring rapids could
scarcely fail to cause some uneasiness in the minds of new-comers.
It is only when the river is very low, as it was now, that any one
durst venture to the island to which we were bound. If one went
during the period of flood, and fortunately hit the island, he would
be obliged to remain there till the water subsided again, if he lived
so long. Both hippopotami and elephants have been known to be swept
over the Falls, and of course smashed to pulp.
Before entering the race of waters, we were requested not to speak,
as our talking might diminish the virtue of the medicine; and no one
with such boiling eddying rapids before his eyes, would think of
disobeying the orders of a "canoe-smasher." It soon became evident
that there was sound sense in this request of Tuba's, although the
reason assigned was not unlike that of the canoe-man from Sesheke,
who begged one of our party not to whistle, because whistling made
the wind come. It was the duty of the man at the bow to look out
ahead for the proper course, and when he saw a rock or snag, to call
out to the steersman. Tuba doubtless thought that talking on board
might divert the attention of his steersman, at a time when the
neglect of an order, or a slight mistake, would be sure to spill us
all into the chafing river. There were places where the utmost
exertions of both men had to be put forth in order to force the canoe
to the only safe part of the rapid, and to prevent it from sweeping
down broadside on, where in a twinkling we should have found
ourselves floundering among the plotuses and cormorants, which were
engaged in diving for their breakfast of small fish. At times it
seemed as if nothing could save us from dashing in our headlong race
against the rocks which, now that the river was low, jutted out of
the water; but just at the very nick of time, Tuba passed the word to
the steersman, and then with ready pole turned the canoe a little
aside, and we glided swiftly past the threatened danger.
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