Chap. XXIII. WE TEY ANOTHER BOAT. 477 



their Chief, and in spite of several accusations made against 

 them by the black men from the Cape, which, after a good 

 deal of careful inquiry, could not be proved ; we remem- 

 bered their noble conduct in saving our lives in the river 

 at Karivua, and,, with this fresh proof of their willingness 

 to risk their lives for our countrymen, we selected live of 

 the best rowers among them, in the belief that these 

 five were worth fifty of any other tribe for the navigation 

 of the Lake, or for any difficulty which might occur in 

 the course of om- journey northwards. Our party consisted 

 of twenty natives, some of whom were Johanna men, and 

 were supposed to be capable of managing the six oxen which 

 drew the 'small wagon with a boat on it. A team of twelve 

 Cape oxen, with a Hottentot driver and leader, would 

 have taken the wagon over the country we had to pass 

 through with the greatest ease ; but no sooner did we get 

 beyond the part of the road already made, than our drivers 

 encountered obstructions in the way of trees and gullies, 

 which it would have been a waste of time to have over- 

 come by felling timber and hauling out the wagon by 

 block and tackle purchases. The Ajawa and Manganja 

 settled at Chibisa's were therefore sent for, and they took 

 the boat on their shoulders and carried it briskly, in a 

 few days, past all the Cataracts except one ; then coming to 

 a comparatively still reach of the river, they took advantage 

 of it to haul her up a couple of miles. The Makololo had 

 her then entirely in charge ; for, being accustomed to rapids 

 in their own country, no better boatmen could be desired. 

 The river here is very narrow, and even in what are called 

 still places, the current is very strong, and often obliged 

 them to haul the boat along by the reeds on the banks, or to 

 hand a tow-rope ashore. The reeds are full of cowitch 

 (DolicJios pruriens), the pods of which are covered with 



