148 THE BAROTSE VALLEY. Chap. XIL 



thirty miles apart. The intervening space, nearly one hun- 

 dred miles in length, with the Leeambye winding gently 

 near the middle, is the true Barotse valley. A great part of 

 its bottom is formed of rocks of reddish variegated hardened 

 sandstone with madrepore holes in it, and of broad horizontal 

 strata of trap, often covered with twelve or fifteen feet of soft 

 calcareous tufa. It bears a close resemblance to the valley of 

 the Nile, and is inundated annually by the Leeambye, exactly 

 as Lower Egypt is flooded by the Nile. 



The villages of the Barotse are built on mounds, which, 

 during the inundation, when the whole valley assumes the 

 appearance of a large lake, look like little islands in the 

 surrounding waters. There are but few trees, and those 

 which stand on the eminences have been planted there for 

 shade. The soil is extremely fertile, and produces two crops 

 of grain in a year. The Barotse are strongly attached to this 

 fertile district, over which the Leeambye spreads " life and 

 verdure." " Here," say they, " hunger is not known." Un- 

 aided nature has covered the ground with coarse succulent 

 grasses, which afford ample pasturage for large herds of cattle ; 

 these thrive Avonderfully, and yield a copious supply of milk. 

 During the season of the flood they are compelled to go to the 

 higher lands, where they fall off in condition ; their return is 

 a time of joy. Yet this region is not put to a tithe of the use 

 it might be. It is impossible to say whether it would raise 

 wheat like the valley of the Nile, for from its excessive 

 richness the corn might run entirely to straw. One species 

 of grass which we observed was twelve feet high, with a stem 

 as thick as a man's thumb. 



This visit was the first Sekeletu had made to these parts 

 since he attained the chieftainship, and the persons who had 

 taken part with his rival Mpepe were in great terror. The 

 father of this aspirant had joined with another man in coun- 

 selling Mamochisane to put Sekeletu to death and marry 

 Mpepe. On our arriving at the town where these two con- 

 spirators lived they were seized and tossed into the river. 

 When I remonstrated against human life being wasted in this 

 off-hand way, my companions justified the act by the evidence 

 given by Mamochisane, and calmly added, "You see we are 

 still Boers ; we are not yet taught." 



