232 BANKS OF THE CHOBE— TREES. Chap. XIII. 



the rogue elephants, are extremely dangerous. We came, at 

 this time, to a canoe, which had been smashed to pieces by a 

 blow from the hind foot of one of them. I was informed by my 

 men that, in the event of a similar assault being made upon 

 ours, the proper way was to dive to the bottom of the river, and 

 hold on there for a few seconds, because the hippopotamus, after 

 breaking a canoe, always looks for the people on the surface, 

 and, if he sees none, he soon moves off. I have seen some 

 frightful gashes made on the legs of the people who have had 

 the misfortune to be attacked, and were unable to dive. This 

 animal uses his teeth as an offensive weapon, though he is quite 

 a herbivorous feeder. One of these " bachelors," living near the 

 confluence, actually came out of his lair, and, putting his head 

 down, ran after some of our men who were passing with very 

 considerable speed. 



The part of the river called Zabesa, or Zabenza, is spread out 

 like a little lake, surrounded on all sides by dense masses of tall 

 reeds. The river below that, is always one hundred or one 

 hundred and twenty yards broad, deep, and never dries up so 

 much as to become fordable. At certain parts, where the 

 partial absence of reeds affords a view of the opposite banks, the 

 Makololo have placed villages of observation against their ene- 

 mies the Matebele. We visited all these in succession, and 

 found here, as everywhere in the Makololo country, orders had 

 preceded us, "that Nake (fiake means doctor) must not be 

 allowed to become hungry." 



The banks of the Chobe, like those of the Zouga, are of soft 

 calcareous tufa, and the river has cut out for itself a deep, per- 

 pendicular-sided bed. Where the banks are high, as at the spot 

 where the waggons stood in 1851, they are covered with magni- 

 ficent trees, the habitat of tsetse, and the retreat of various ante- 

 lopes, wild hogs, zebras, buffaloes, and elephants. 



Among the trees may be observed some species of the Fieus 

 indica, light-green coloured acacias, the splendid motsintsela, 

 and evergreen cypress-shaped motsouri. The fruit of the last- 

 named was ripe, and the villagers presented many dishes of its 

 beautiful pink-coloured plums ; they are used chiefly to form a 

 pleasant acid drink. The motsintsela is a very lofty tree, 

 yielding a wood of which good canoes are made ; the fruit is 



