SLAVE-TRADERS. I99 



afterward, it is not certain whether his object was obtained by vio- 

 lence or by fair promises. In either case, slavery must have been 

 the portion of these poor people. He was carried in a hammock, 

 slung between two poles, which appearing to be a bag, the Mako- 

 lolo named him "Father of the Bag." 



Mpepe favored these slave-traders, and they, as is usual with 

 them, founded all their hopes of influence on his successful rebel- 

 lion. My arrival on the scene was felt to be so much weight in 

 the scale against their interests. A large party of Mambari had 

 come to Linyanti when I was floundering on the prairies south of 

 the Chobe. As the news of my being in the neighborhood reach- 

 ed them their countenances fell ; and when some Makololo, who 

 had assisted us to cross the river, returned with hats which I had 

 given them, the Mambari betook themselves to precipitate flight. 

 It is usual for visitors to ask formal permission before attempting 

 to leave a chief, but the sight of the hats made the Mambari pack 

 up at once. The Makololo inquired the cause of the hurry, and 

 were told that, if I found them there, I should take all their slaves 

 and goods from them ; and, though assured by Sekeletu that I 

 was not a robber, but a man of peace, they fled by night, while I 

 was still sixty miles off. They went to the north, where, under 

 the protection of Mpepe, they had erected a stockade of consider- 

 able size. There, several half-caste slave-traders, under the lead- 

 ership of a native Portuguese, carried on their traffic, without ref- 

 erence to the chief into whose country they had unceremoniously 

 introduced themselves ; while Mpepe, feeding them with the cat- 

 tle of Sekeletu, formed a plan of raising himself, by means of their 

 fire-arms, to be the head of the Makololo. The usual course which 

 the slave-traders adopt is to take a part in the political affairs of 

 each tribe, and, siding with the strongest, get well paid by cap- 

 tures made from the weaker party. Long secret conferences were 

 held by the slave-traders and Mpepe, and it was deemed advisable 

 for him to strike the first blow ; so he provided himself with a 

 small battle-axe, with the intention of cutting Sekeletu down the 

 first time they met. 



My object being first of all to examine the country for a 

 healthy locality, before attempting to make a path to either the 

 East or West Coast, I proposed to Sekeletu the plan of ascend- 

 ing the great river which we had discovered in 1851. He vol- 



