384 HISTORY AND CUSTOMS OF THE MAKARANGA. 



from them, and passing thi'DUgh Rhodesia, crossed the Zambesi, 

 and eventually settled down near the lakes. 



It is said that whilst the Mazvvangandaba were on this 

 journey, they were held up by the Zambesi, which was in flood ; 

 their Chief thereupon struck the water with his assegai, and the 

 waters rolled up on either hand, leaving a free passage for the 

 tribe to cross. 



Two reasons are given as to what caused the Mazwangandaba 

 to leave their own people. One is that the son of the Chief gave 

 his elder brother a puppy to rear for him ; eventually, when the 

 pup was grown, the owner claimed it. By this time 

 the elder brother had grown fond of the dog, and 

 refused to give it up, whereupon there was a light, and as a result 

 the younger brother collected his own adherents and left the tribe. 



The other reason given is that whilst the Shangaans were on 

 a raiding tri]) near the Tokwe River, between Chilimanzi and 

 Selukwe, there was a quarrel as to the division of loot cattle. 

 The regiment took sides and fought over the matter ; the con- 

 quered party fled north, with the others hard after them, and it 

 was when harci' pressed by their pursuers that the Zambesi rolled 

 back, allowing them to cross and effectually stopping the pursuit. 



In addition to the Shangaan and Matabele, another tril>e from 

 the south, the Swazwi. also raided into Rhodesia, and. as far as 

 one can gather, lived there for some years. 



They apparently arrived there some eight years ])rior to the 

 Matabele; they found the aboriginal owners of the country, the 

 Warozwi, still living at their old kraals in Matabeleland. and 

 fought with them, without much result so far as can be gathered, 

 until the advent of the Matabele, when the Swazwi left the coun- 

 try and the ancient dynasty of Mambo, the Chief of the Warozwi. 

 was swept from their ancient places and the remnants of the tribe 

 were scattered throughout Rhoaesia. 



It is said that the Swazwi brought large herds of white long- 

 horned cattle with them into the country. As far as can be 

 gathered, they led a somewhat nomadic existence. They took up 

 their residence in the Selukwe district for some years, and it 

 would appear that they came from the west, as the pass through 

 the hills, from the Gwelo watershed to the lowlands is still called 

 by the natives the " Pass of the Swazwi." 



The oldest inhabitants of Rhodesia were undoubtedly the 

 tribe known as Warozwi ; their totems are the Heart and the 

 Lion. Their Chief took the name of " Mambo." At one time 

 they must have been a great and powerful nation, ana extended 

 over a vast extent of territory. 



Judging from the customs, history and language, these people 

 were the tribe mentioned in all the Portuguese records of 300 

 years ago as being the people of Monomotapa, though unfor- 

 tunately no trace of this name can be found as survixing now-a- 

 days. 



It is possible, of course, that the word was mispronounced 

 by the historians of those days, as in the local Chikaranga of 



