340 SEKOTE'S ISLAND Chap. XXVI. 



foot. The next evening we slept opposite the island of 

 Chondo, and, then crossing the Lekone or Lekwine, reached 

 early the following morning the island of Sekote, called Kalai, 

 which is surrounded by a rocky shore and deep channels, 

 and is large enough to contain a considerable town. On the 

 northern side I found the kotla of the elder Sekote, garnished 

 with numbers of human skulls mounted on poles : a large heap 

 of the crania of hippopotami, the tusks untouched except by 

 time, stood on one side. Near it, under some trees, we saw 

 the grave of Sekote, surrounded with an ornamental fence of 

 seventy large elephants' tusks, planted with the points turned 

 inwards ; thirty more were placed over the resting-places of 

 his relatives. Most of these were decaying from the effects 

 of the sun and weather ■ but a few, which had enjoyed the 

 shade, were in a pretty good condition. I felt inclined to 

 take a specimen of the tusks of the hippopotami, as they were 

 the largest I had ever seen; but I feared lest the people 

 should look upon such an act as sacrilegious, and should 

 regard any unfavourable event which might afterwards occur 

 as a punishment for it. The Batoka believe that Sekote had 

 a pot of medicine buried here, which, when opened, would 

 cause an epidemic in the country. These tyrants acted much 

 on the fears of their people. 



As this was the point from which we intended to strike off 

 to the north-east, I resolved on the following day to visit the 

 celebrated falls of the Zambesi. We had often heard of these 

 since we came into the country : indeed one of the questions 

 asked by Sebituane was, " Have you smoke that sounds in 

 your country ?" The Makololo had not ventured near enough 

 to examine them, but, viewing them with awe at a distance, 

 said, in reference to the vapour and noise, " Mosi oa tunya," 

 (smoke sounds there), and had hence given them the name of 

 Mosiotunya. Previously to this they had been called Shongwe, 

 the meaning of which I conjecture to be " seething caldron " 

 but I am not certain of it. Being persuaded that Mr. Oswell 

 and myself were the very first Europeans who ever visited the 

 Zambesi in the heart of the country, I decided to use the same 

 liberty as the Makololo had done, and named them the " Falls 

 of Victoria" — the only English name I have affixed to any 

 part of the country. 



