CHAP. VI. HERD OF HIPPOPOTAMI. 157 



all committed to his charge. Rumours of a foray having 

 been made, either by Makololo or Batoka, as far as the 

 fork of the Kafue, were received here by our men with 

 great indignation, as it looked as if the marauders were 

 shutting up the country, which they had been trying so 

 much to open. Below the junction of the rivers, on a 

 shallow sandbank, lay a large herd of hippopotami, their 

 bodies out of the water, like masses of black rock. 

 Kambadzo's island, called Nyangalule, a name which 

 occurs again at the mouth of the Zambesi, has many 

 choice Motsikiri (Trachelid) trees on it; and four very 

 conspicuous stately palms growing out of a single stem. 

 The Kafue reminds us a little of the Shire, flowing be- 

 tween steep banks, with fertile land on both sides. It is 

 a smaller river, and has less current. Here it seems to 

 come from the west. The headman of the village, near 

 which we encamped, brought a present of meal, fowls, 

 and sweet potatoes. They have both the red and white 

 varieties of this potato. We have, on several occasions 

 during this journey, felt the want of vegetables, in a 

 disagreeable craving which our diet of meat and native 

 meal could not satisfy. It became worse and worse till 

 we got a meal of potatoes, which allayed it at once. A 

 great scarcity of vegetables prevails in these parts of 

 Africa. The natives collect several kinds of wild plants 

 in the woods, which they use no doubt for the purpose of 

 driving off cravings similar to those we experienced. 



Owing to the strength of the wind, and the cranky 

 state of the canoes, it was late in the afternoon of the 

 11th before our party was ferried over the Kafue. After 

 crossing, we were in the Bawe country. Fishhooks here, 

 of native workmanship, were observed to have barbs like 

 the European hooks : elsewhere the point of the hook is 

 merely bent in towards the shank, to have the same effect 

 in keeping on the fish as the barb. We slept near a 



