trees are very abundant at this point, and we halted
under an enormous one standing quite alone. We were
in the country of big game, and we found several giraffe
and lion spoor; but we had something else to do than
attempt to follow it up, though all night I slept with
my rifle ready.
For the next five days our journey presented no
incidents worth recording. We marched as long each
day as the heat would permit over the thick sand, halting
wherever we were lucky enough to find water, which was
not often. All along the route we found the traces of
giraffe, elephant, koodoo, and other animals, but never
actually sighted any. At two o’clock in the morning of
the 19th October I was awakened by the sound of feet
approaching, and saw a caravan of a dozen porters, accompanied
by a European, coming from the direction of
the Zambezi. We entered into conversation. The man
represented himself as an English minister, giving me
an excellent address in the country, and adding that he
belonged to the Primitive Methodist Mission at Shesheke,
and that he had intended to go into the country of the
Mashukolumbwe, but that the loss of his oxen had prevented
his doing so. I afterwards found out that he was
merely a carpenter attached to the Mission, and that he
had just been dismissed. He gave us, however, lots of
information concerning the road to the Zambezi, telling
us where we should find water and the time that it would
take us to reach our destination. We found that we were
actually seventy miles from Pandamatenga, and 130 miles
from the Zambezi.
The 19th, 20th, and 21st of October were terrible days.
I pushed on as hard as I could, but progress was slow
as the ground was still very thick with sand, and the heat
terrible; for hours I was without water, and as I was able
to get but little sleep, the fever again attacked me.
At 8 o’clock on the 22nd of October I arrived in sight
of Pandamatenga, and reaching it a little later, rejoiced
54
in the sight of a number of habitations and human beings.
I was very kindly received by Henry Wall, a native
hunter, who had taken up his quarters here. The frightful
ordeal was over, and only those who have come through
anything of the sort can imagine what a joy it was.
I stayed in Pandamatenga until the afternoon of the
26th October. I had engaged six porters (Mashubias and
Barotses), and it was arranged that I 'should go and say
good-bye to Henry Wall. I started on ahead, and shortly
afterwards my porters arrived. They said that the loads
were too heavy, that they had all been ill in consequence,
and that six more porters must be engaged. I gave
my consent to this, and that night we camped near a
small river. At sunrise two of the men started off to find
the extra porters, and at the end of about an hour and
a half returned with a troop of six, two of whom were
children. Thus I had a train of twelve, and seeing that
they had only a load of 300 lbs. to carry between them,
it cannot be said that they were over-weighted. I grew
more experienced in the ways of porters before I was
done with them.
My men formed a curious collection of different types :
two or three Mashubias, who possessed no particular points
of interest; some Barotses, carrying themselves with a
peculiar air of pride—they had very fine features and
seemed much more intelligent than the others; a Batoka
and his two children, all with two of their front teeth
extracted, giving them an aged and sulky appearance ;
and lastly, a Mashukolumbwe, with hooked nose and
protruding lips which he would thrust forward.
It was very hot when we started, and at the end of
half an hour the men stopped. In vain I ordered them
to proceed: they calmly commenced to light a fire by
means of a rod rubbed against a piece o f . dry wood
and some tinder. Having quietly smoked their pipes, a
good many of them indulging in dakka (see p. 24) for
about three - quarters of an hour, they started again.