58 ADVENTURES IN SOUTH AFRICA. 



upon Chouaney with one of my wagons on the ensuing 

 day ; the doctor's object being to establish peace between 

 the two tribes, and mine to enrich myself with ivory 

 and karosses, and other objects of interest. 



On the morning of the 24th I off-loaded the baggage- 

 wagon, and stowed its contents in Dr. Livingstone's 

 premises, after which the doctor and I started for Chou- 

 aney, which bore a little to the east of north. Our road 

 lay through the most perfect country. On clearing the 

 romantic valley of Bakatla, we descended into another 

 beautiful valley, through which meandered the crystal 

 waters of the Ngotwani, an interesting stream, which, 

 flowing in a northeasterly direction, falls into the Lim- 

 popo about sixty miles below its junction with the Ma- 

 riqua. The Ngotwani contains several varieties of fish, 

 which are of good flavor, and afford the angler steady 

 average sport both with bait and fly. After following 

 some distance along the finely-wooded banks of the 

 Ngotwani, and having twice crossed its stream, we en- 

 tered upon an extensive open tract of country adorned 

 with a carpet of the most luxuriant herbage. This inter- 

 esting plain was beauitifully wooded toward the mount- 

 ain ranges which bound it on every side, and the Ngot- 

 wani twined in a serpentine course along the middle ot 

 it, forming in one part an extensive vley or marsh about 

 four miles long and a quarter of a mile in breadth. 

 This vley was now beautiful with a dense crop of wav- 

 ing green reeds, averaging about fourteen feet in height, 

 and forming a favorite resort of buffaloes and their in- 

 variable attendants the lions. Dr. Livingstone told me 

 that a party of Baquaines were to leave Chouaney on 

 the ensuing day to visit this vley, for the purpose of 

 cutting a supply of the long rank reeds with which to 

 thatch his new church and dwelling-house ; and he said 



