494 COLONY OF BIRDS. Chap. XXV. 



CHAPTEK XXV. 



Colony of birds called Linkololo — The village of Chitlane — Murder of Mpo- 

 lolo's daughter — Execution of murderer and his wife — My companions 

 find that their wives have married other husbands — Sunday — A party 

 from Masiko — Freedom of speech — Canoe struck by a hippopotamus — 

 Gonye — Appearance of trees at the end of winter — Murky atmosphere — 

 Surprising amount of organic life — Hornets — The packages forwarded 

 by Mr. Moffat — Makololo suspicions and reply to the Matebele who 

 brought them — Convey the goods to an island and build a hut over them 

 — Ascertain that Sir R. Murchison had recognised the true form of African 

 continent — Arrival at Linyanti — A grand picho — Shrewd inquiry — 

 Sekeletu in his uniform — A trading party sent to Loanda with ivory - — 

 Mr. Gabriel's kindness to them — Difficulties in trading — Two Makololo 

 forays during our absence — Report of the country to the N.E. — Death 

 of influential men — The Makololo desire to be nearer the market — 

 Opinions upon a change of residence — Climate of Barotse valley — Dis- 

 eases — Author's fevers not a fair criterion in the matter — The interior an 

 inviting field for the philanthropist — Consultations about a path to the 

 east coast — Decide on descending north bank of Zambesi — Wait for the 

 rainy season — Native way of spending time during period of greatest 

 heat — Favourable opening for missionary enterprise — Ben Habib wishes 

 to marry — A maiden's choice — Sekeletu's hospitality — Sulphuretted 

 hydrogen and malaria — Conversations with Makololo — Their moral cha- 

 racter and conduct — Sekeletu wishes to purchase a sugar-mill, &c. — The 

 donkeys — Influence among the natives — " Food fit for a chief" — Parting 

 words of Mamire — Motibe's excuses. 



On the 31st of July we parted with our kind Libonta friends. 

 We planted some of our palm-tree seeds in different villages of 

 this valley. They began to sprout even while we were there, but, 

 unfortunately, they were always destroyed by the mice which 

 swarm in every hut. 



At Chitlane's village, we collected the young of a colony of 

 the linkololo (Anastomus lamalligerus), a black, long-legged bird, 

 somewhat larger than a crow, which lives on shellfish {Ampullar id), 

 and breeds in society at certain localities among the reeds. These 

 places are well known, as they continue there from year to year, and 

 belong to the chiefs, who at particular times of the year gather most 

 of the young. The produce of this " harvest," as they call it, which 



