CHAPTER YHI
DOWN TO THE SA B I R IV E R AND MATINDELA RUINS
It was the report of extensive ruins, ‘larger,’ said
a native, ‘than those of Zimbabwe,’ which induced
us to make an expedition involving considerable
hardships and unknown risks down in the direction
of the Sabi River, Our waggons, of course, could not
go, as our way would be by the narrow native paths.
Previous experience had warned us against depending
on the native huts, so for the transport of our tents,
bedding, and provisions we had to make considerable
preparations.
At Port Yictoria we borrowed seven donkeys
from the Chartered Company, and we engaged a few
natives of reputed respectability under the command
of a man called Mashah, quite the most brilliant
specimen of the Makalanga race we came across
during our sojourn in the country. He, his father and
his mother and his wife, a sister of our old friend
Umgabe, had been captured some years ago by the
Matabele and spent several years in servitude, during
which time he had learnt the Zulu tongue and the
more energetic habits of this stronger race. Eventually,
after the death of his father and mother, he and