Chap. IX. SLAVE-TRADERS. 181 



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

 violence 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 Makololo named him " Father of the Bag." 



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

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

 bellion. 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 neighbour- 

 hood reached 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 permis- 

 sion 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 considerable size ; there several half-caste 

 slave-traders, under the leadership of a native Portuguese, carried 

 on their traffic, without reference to the chief into whose country 

 they had unceremoniously introduced themselves ; while Mpepe, 

 feeding them with the cattle of Sekeletu, formed a plan of raising 

 himself, by means of their fire-arms, to be the head of the Mako- 

 lolo. 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 captures 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 ascending 

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



