38 
MATABELE LAND. 
and at last we got over, the water only just taking 
the oxen off their feet. In dry weather there is 
hardly any water, but after the rains the river gets 
tremendously swollen, and there are very steep banks. 
Whilst waiting there Dawnay^ came up with two 
'^^^' 
BOERS' FARMS, CROCODILE RIVER. 
waggons. He has been out two years, and been to 
the Victoria Falls. He says it would be worth 
walkinof from Durban to see them. He showed me 
some little sketches he had made, but said it was 
almost impossible to draw on account of the flies. 
The tsetse-fly, which kills everything except men, 
wild beasts, and donkeys, swarms there, and bites so 
furiously that your hands and face are puffed up in 
no time. He describes the scenery on the Zambesi 
as lovely. 
^ The Hon. G. C. Dawnay, on his way home from the Zambesi. 
