No Tribute Was Exacted
By Sekeletu From Sinamane; But, As He Had Sent In His Adhesion, He
Was Expected To Act As A Guard In Case Of The Matebele Wishing To
Cross And Attack The Makololo.
As we intended to purchase canoes of
Sinamane in which to descend the river, Leshore was to commend us to
whatever help this Batoka chief could render.
It must be confessed
that Leshore's men, who were all of the black subject tribes, really
needed to be viewed by us in the most charitable light; for Leshore,
on entering any village, called out to the inhabitants, "Look out for
your property, and see that my thieves don't steal it."
Two young Makololo with their Batoka servants accompanied us to see
if Kebrabasa could be surmounted, and to bring a supply of medicine
for Sekeletu's leprosy; and half a dozen able canoe-men, under
Mobito, who had previously gone with Dr. Livingstone to Loanda, were
sent to help us in our river navigation. Some men on foot drove six
oxen which Sekeletu had given us as provisions for the journey. It
was, as before remarked, a time of scarcity; and, considering the
dearth of food, our treatment had been liberal.
By day the canoe-men are accustomed to keep close under the river's
bank from fear of the hippopotami; by night, however, they keep in
the middle of the stream, as then those animals are usually close to
the bank on their way to their grazing grounds. Our progress was
considerably impeded by the high winds, which at this season of the
year begin about eight in the morning, and blow strongly up the river
all day. The canoes were poor leaky affairs, and so low in parts of
the gunwale, that the paddlers were afraid to follow the channel when
it crossed the river, lest the waves might swamp us. A rough sea is
dreaded by all these inland canoe-men; but though timid, they are by
no means unskilful at their work. The ocean rather astonished them
afterwards; and also the admirable way that the Nyassa men managed
their canoes on a rough lake, and even amongst the breakers, where no
small boat could possibly live.
On the night of the 17th we slept on the left bank of the Majeele,
after having had all the men ferried across. An ox was slaughtered,
and not an ounce of it was left next morning. Our two young Makololo
companions, Maloka and Ramakukane, having never travelled before,
naturally clung to some of the luxuries they had been accustomed to
at home. When they lay down to sleep, their servants were called to
spread their blankets over their august persons, not forgetting their
feet. This seems to be the duty of the Makololo wife to her husband,
and strangers sometimes receive the honour. One of our party, having
wandered, slept at the village of Nambowe. When he laid down, to his
surprise two of Nambowe's wives came at once, and carefully and
kindly spread his kaross over him.
A beautiful silvery fish with reddish fins, called Ngwesi, is very
abundant in the river; large ones weigh fifteen or twenty pounds
each. Its teeth are exposed, and so arranged that, when they meet,
the edges cut a hook like nippers. The Ngwesi seems to be a very
ravenous fish. It often gulps down the Konokono, a fish armed with
serrated bones more than an inch in length in the pectoral and dorsal
fins, which, fitting into a notch at the roots, can be put by the
fish on full cock or straight out, - they cannot be folded down,
without its will, and even break in resisting. The name "Konokono,"
elbow-elbow, is given it from a resemblance its extended fins are
supposed to bear to a man's elbows stuck out from his body. It often
performs the little trick of cocking its fins in the stomach of the
Ngwesi, and, the elbows piercing its enemy's sides, he is frequently
found floating dead. The fin bones seem to have an acrid secretion
on them, for the wound they make is excessively painful. The
Konokono barks distinctly when landed with the hook. Our canoe-men
invariably picked up every dead fish they saw on the surface of the
water, however far gone. An unfragrant odour was no objection; the
fish was boiled and eaten, and the water drunk as soup. It is a
curious fact that many of the Africans keep fish as we do woodcocks,
until they are extremely offensive, before they consider them fit to
eat. Our paddlers informed us on our way down that iguanas lay their
eggs in July and August, and crocodiles in September. The eggs
remain a month or two under the sand where they are laid, and the
young come out when the rains have fairly commenced. The canoe-men
were quite positive that crocodiles frequently stun men by striking
them with their tails, and then squat on them till they are drowned.
We once caught a young crocodile, which certainly did use its tail to
inflict sharp blows, and led us to conclude that the native opinion
is correct. They believed also that, if a person shuts the beast's
eyes, it lets go its hold. Crocodiles have been known to unite and
kill a large one of their own species and eat it. Some fishermen
throw the bones of the fish into the river but in most of the fishing
villages there are heaps of them in various places. The villagers
can walk over them without getting them into their feet; but the
Makololo, from having softer soles, are unable to do so. The
explanation offered was, that the fishermen have a medicine against
fish-bones, but that they will not reveal it to the Makololo.
We spent a night on Mparira island, which is four miles long and
about one mile broad. Mokompa, the headman, was away hunting
elephants. His wife sent for him on our arrival, and he returned
next morning before we left.
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