Chap. IV. PREPARE FOR A JOURNEY. 107 



before remarked, entirely to straw; but as the rains 

 are nearly over in May, advantage is taken of low-lying 

 patches, which have been flooded by the river. A hole is 

 made in the mud with a hoe, a few seeds dropped in, and 

 the earth shoved back with the foot. If not favoured with 

 certain misty showers, which, lower down the river, are 

 simply fogs, water is borne from the river to the roots of 

 the wheat in earthern pots ; and in about four months the 

 crop is ready for the sickle. The wheat of Tette is ex- 

 ported, as the best grown in the country; but a hollow 

 spot at Maruru, close by Mazaro, yielded very good crops, 

 though just at the level of the sea, as a few inches rise of 

 tide shows. 



A number of days were spent in busy preparation for 

 our journey ; the cloth, beads, and brass wire, for the trip 

 were sewn up in old canvas, and each package had the 

 bearer's name printed on it. The Makololo, who had 

 worked for the Expedition, were paid for their services, 

 and every one who had come down with the Doctor from 

 the interior received a present of cloth and ornaments, in 

 order to protect them from the greater cold of their own 

 country, and to show that they had not come in vain. 

 Though called Makololo by courtesy, as they were proud 

 of the name, Kanyata, the principal headman, was the 

 only real Makololo of the party ; and he, in virtue of his 

 birth, had succeeded to the chief place on the death of 

 Sekwebu. The others belonged to the conquered tribes of 

 the Batoka, Bashubia, Ba-Selea, and Barotse. Some of 

 these men had only added to their own vices those of the 

 Tette slaves ; others, by toiling during the first two years 

 in navigating canoes, and hunting elephants, had often 

 managed to save a little, to take back to their own 

 country, but had to part with it all for food to support 

 the rest in times of hunger, and, latterly, had fallen into 

 the improvident habits of slaves, and spent their surplus 

 earnings in beer and agua ardiente. 



