THE LEEAMBYE AND LOETI 123 



and were always received with a hearty welcome, as mes- 

 sengers to them of peace, which the}' term " sleep." They 

 behave well in public meetings, even on the first occasion 

 of attendance, probably from the habit of commanding the 

 Makalaka, crowds of whom swarm in every village, and 

 whom the Makololo women seem to consider as especially 

 tinder their charge. 



The river presents the same appearance of low banks 

 without trees as we have remarked it had after we came 

 to 16° 16', until we arrive at Libonta, (14° 59' S. lat.) 

 Twenty miles beyond that, we find forests down to the 

 water's edge, and tsetse. Here I might have turned back, 

 as no locality can be inhabited by Europeans where that 

 scourge exists; but, hearing that we were not far from 

 the confluence of the river of Londa or Lunda, named Leeba 

 or Loiba, and the chiefs of that country being reported to 

 be friendly to strangers, and therefore likely to be of use 

 to me on my return from the west coast, I still pushed on 

 to latitude 14° 11' 2" S. There the Leeambye assumes the 

 name Kabompo, and seems to be coming from the east. It 

 is a fine large river, about three hundred yards wide, and 

 the Leeba two hundred and fifty. The Loeti, a branch of 

 which is called Langebongo, comes from W.N.W., through 

 a level grassy plain named Mango ; it is about one hundred 

 yards wide, and enters the Leeambye from the west ; the 

 waters of the Loeti are of a light color, and those of the 

 Leeba of a dark mossy hue. After the Loeti joins the 

 Leeambye, the different-colored waters flow side by side for 

 some distance unmixed. 



Before reaching the Loeti, we came to a number of people 

 from the Lobale region, hunting hippopotami. They fled 

 precipitately as soon as they saw the Makololo, leaving 

 their canoes and all their utensils and clothing. My own 

 Makalaka, who were accustomed to plunder wherever they 

 went, rushed after them like furies, totally regardless of 

 my shouting. As this proceeding would have destroyed 

 my character entirely at Lobale, I took my stand on a 



