Chap. XII. RAPIDS AND FALLS. 213 



excel in pottery and iron. I cannot find that they have ever 

 been warlike. Indeed, the wars in the centre of the country, 

 where no slave-trade existed, have seldom been about anything 

 else but cattle. So well known is this, that several tribes refuse 

 to keep cattle because they tempt their enemies to come and 

 steal. Nevertheless they have no objection to eat them when 

 offered, and their country admits of being well stocked. I have 

 heard of but one war having occurred from another cause. Three 

 brothers, Barolongs, fought for the possession of a woman who 

 was considered worth a battle, and the tribe has remained per- 

 manently divided ever since. 



From the bend up to the north, called Katima-molelo (I 

 quenched fire), the bed of the river is rocky, and the stream runs 

 fast, forming a succession of rapids and cataracts, which prevent 

 continuous navigation when the water is low. The rapids are 

 not visible when the river is full, but the cataracts of Nanibwe, 

 Bombwe, and Kale must always be dangerous. The fall at each 

 of these is between four and six feet. But the falls of Gonye 

 present a much more serious obstacle. There we were obliged 

 to take the canoes out of the water, and carry them more than a 

 mile by land. The fall is about thirty feet. The main body of 

 water, which comes over the ledge of rock when the river is low, 

 is collected into a space seventy or eighty yards wide before it 

 takes the leap, and, a mass of rock being thrust forward against 

 the roaring torrent, a loud sound is produced. Tradition reports 

 the destruction in this place of two lnppopotamus-hunters, who, 

 over eager in the pursuit of a wounded animal, were, with their 

 intended prey, drawn down into the frightful gulf. There is also 

 a tradition of a man, evidently of superior mind, who left his 

 own countrymen, the Barotse, and came down the river, took 

 advantage of the falls, and led out a portion of the water there 

 for irrigation. Such minds must have arisen from time to time 

 in these regions, as well as in our own country, but, ignorant of 

 the use of letters, they have left no memorial behind them. We 

 dug out some of an inferior kind of potato {Smnydne) from his 

 garden, for when once planted it never dies out. This root is 

 bitter and waxy, though it is cultivated. It was not in flower, so 

 I cannot say whether it is a solanaceous plant or not. One 

 never expects to find a grave nor a stone of remembrance set 



