270 STEONG EASTERLY WINDS. Chap. XIII. 



Strong easterly winds blow daily from noon till midnight, 

 and continue till the October or November rains set in. 

 Whirlwinds, raising huge pillars of smoke from burning 

 grass and weeds, are common in the forenoon. We were 

 nearly caught in an immense one. It crossed about twenty 

 yards in front of us, the wind apparently rushing into it 

 from all points of the compass. Whirling round and round 

 in great eddies, it swept up hundreds of feet into the air a 

 continuous dense dark cloud of the black pulverized soil, 

 mixed with dried grass, off the plain. Herds of the new 

 antelopes, lechwe, and poku, with the kokong, or gnus, and 

 zebras stood gazing at us as we passed. The mirage lifted 

 them at times halfway to the clouds, and twisted them and 

 the clumps of palms into strange unearthly forms. The 

 extensive and rich level plains by the banks, along the sides 

 of which we paddled, would support a vast population, and 

 might be easily irrigated from the Zambesi. If watered, they 

 would yield crops all the year round, and never suffer 

 loss by drought. The hippopotamus is killed here with long 

 lance-like spears. We saw two men, in a light canoe, 

 stealing noiselessly down on one of these animals thought to 

 be asleep ; but it was on the alert, and they had quickly to 

 retreat. Comparatively few of these animals now remain 

 between Sesheke and the Falls, and they are uncommonly 

 wary, as it is certain death for one to be caught napping 

 in the daytime. 



On the 18th we entered Sesheke. The old town, now in 

 ruins, stands on the left bank of the river. The people have 

 built another on the same side, a quarter of a mile higher 

 up, since their headman Moriantsiane was put to death 

 for bewitching the Chief with leprosy. Sekeletu was on 

 the right bank, near a number of temporary huts. A man 

 hailed us from the Chief's quarters, and requested us to 



