Chap. XIII. ARRANGEMENTS FOR JOURNEY. 227 



CHAPTEE XIII. 



Preliminary arrangements for the journey — A picho — Twenty-seven men 

 appointed to accompany me to the west — Eagerness of the Makololo for 

 direct trade with the coast — Effects of fever — A Makololo question — 

 The lost journal — Reflections — The outfit for the journey — 11th Nov. 

 1853, leave Linyanti, and embark on the Cbobe — Dangerous hippopo- 

 tami — Banks of Chohe — Trees — The course of the river — The island 

 Mparia at the confluence of the Chohe and the Leeambye — Anecdote — 

 Ascend the Leeambye — A Makalaka mother defies the authority of the 

 Makololo headman at Sesheke — Punishment of thieves — Observance of 

 the new moon — Public addresses at Sesheke — Attention of the people 

 — Results — Proceed up the river — The fruit which yields nux vomica — 

 Other fruits— The rapids — Birds — Fish — Hippopotami and their young. 



Linyanti, September, 1853. — The object proposed to the Mako- 

 lolo seemed so desirable, that it was resolved to proceed with 

 it, as soon as the cooling influence of the rains should be felt 

 in November. The longitude and latitude of Linyanti (lat. 

 18° 17' 20" S., long. 23° 50' 9" E.) showed that St. Philip de 

 Penguela was much nearer to us than Loanda ; and I might 

 have easily made arrangements with the Mambari to allow me 

 to accompany them as far as Bihe, which is on the road to that 

 port ; but it is so undesirable to travel in a path once trodden by 

 slave-traders, that I preferred to find out another line of march. 

 Accordingly, men were sent at my suggestion to examine all 

 the country to the west, to see if any belt of country, free from 

 tsetse, could be found to afford us an outlet. The search was 

 fruitless. The town and district of Linyanti are surrounded by 

 forests infested by this poisonous insect, except at a few points, as 

 that by which we entered at Sanshureh and another at Sesheke. 

 Put the lands both east and west of the Barotse valley are free 

 from this insect plague. There, however, the slave-trade had 

 denied the path, and no one ought to follow in its wake unless 

 well armed. The Mainbari had informed me that many English 

 lived at Loanda, so I prepared to go thither. The prospect of 

 meeting with countrymen seemed to overbalance the toils of the 

 longer march. 



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