272 LIBONTA. 



good deal of mischief here, and when the people went to attack it 

 two men were badly wounded ; one of them had his thigh-hone 

 quite broken, showing the prodigious power of this animal's jaws. 

 The inflammation produced by the teeth-wounds proved fatal to 

 one of them. 



Here we demanded the remainder of the captives, and got our 

 number increased to nineteen. They consisted of women and 

 children, and one young man of twenty. One of the boys was 

 smuggled away in the crowd as we embarked. The Makololo 

 under-chiefs often act in direct opposition to the will of the head 

 chief, trusting to circumstances and brazenfacedness to screen 

 themselves from his open displeasure ; and as he does not always 

 find it convenient to notice faults, they often go to considerable 

 lengths in wrong-doing. 



Libonta is the last town of the Makololo ; so, when we parted 

 from it, we had only a few cattle-stations and outlying hamlets 

 in front, and then an uninhabited border country till we came 

 to Londa or Lunda. Libonta is situated on a mound like the 

 rest of the villages in the Barotse valley, but here the tree- 

 covered sides of the valley begin to approach nearer the river. 

 The village itself belongs to two of the chief wives of Sebituane, 

 who furnished us with an ox and abundance of other food. The 

 same kindness was manifested by all who could afford to give 

 any thing ; and as I glance over their deeds of generosity re- 

 corded in my journal, my heart glows with gratitude to them, 

 and I hope and pray that God may spare me to make them some 

 return. 



Before leaving the villages entirely, we may glance at our way 

 of spending the nights. As soon as we land, some of the men cut 

 a little grass for my bed, while Mashuana plants the poles of 

 the little tent. These are used by day for carrying burdens, for 

 the Barotse fashion is exactly like that of the natives of India, 

 only the burden is fastened near the ends of the pole, and not 

 suspended by long cords. The bed is made, and boxes ranged 

 on each side of it, and then the tent pitched over all. Four or 

 five feet in front of my tent is placed the principal or kotla fire, 

 the wood for which must be collected by the man who occupies 

 the post of herald, and takes as his perquisite the heads of all the 

 oxen slaughtered, and of all the game too. Each person knows 



