Chap. XXVI. THE TRAVELLING PARTY. 533 



should here be associated with hatred to the zebra, as among the 

 Bakwains ; that this operation is performed at the same age that 

 circumcision is in other tribes ; and that here that ceremony is 

 unknown. The custom is so universal, that a person who has his 

 teeth is considered ugly, and occasionally, when the Batoka 

 borrowed my looking-glass, the disparaging remark would be 

 made respecting boys or girls who still retained then- teeth, " Look 

 at the great teeth ! " Some of the Makololo give a more 

 facetious explanation of the custom ; they say that the wife of 

 a chief having in a quarrel bitten her husband's hand, he, in 

 revenge, ordered her front teeth to be knocked out, and all the 

 men in the tribe followed his example ; but this does not explain 

 why they afterwards knocked out their own. 



The Batoka of the Zambesi are generally very dark in colour, 

 and very degraded and negro-like in appearance, while those 

 who live on the high lands we are now ascending, are frequently 

 of the colour of coffee and milk. We had a large number of the 

 Batoka of Mokwine in our party, sent by Sekeletu to carry his 

 tusks. Their greater degradation was probably caused by the 

 treatment of their chiefs — the barbarians of the islands. I found 

 them more difficult to manage than any of the rest of my compa- 

 nions, being much less reasonable and impressible than the others. 

 My party consisted of the head-men afore-mentioned, Sekwebu, 

 and Kanyata. We were joined at the falls by another head-man 

 of the Makololo, named Monaliin, in command of the Batoka. 

 We had also some of the Banajoa under Mosisinyane, and last of 

 all, a small party of Bashubia and Barotse under Tuba Mokoro, 

 which had been furnished by Sekeletu because of their ability to 

 swim. They carried their paddles with them, and, as the Makololo 

 suggested, were able to swim over the rivers by night and steal 

 canoes, if the inhabitants should be so unreasonable as to refuse 

 to lend them. These different parties assorted together into 

 messes ; any orders were given through their head-man, and 

 when food was obtained he distributed it to the mess. Each 

 party knew its own spot in the encampment ; and as this was 

 always placed so that our backs should be to the east, the direction 

 from whence the prevailing winds came, no time was lost in 

 fixing the sheds of our encampment. They each took it in turn 

 to pull grass to make my bed, so I lay luxuriously. 



