CHAP. VIII. KALUNDA AND MOAMBA FALLS. 213 



but had also driven away the Griqua traders; but this 

 may all end in nothing. Some of the natives here, and at 

 Sesheke, know a few of the low tricks of more civilized 

 traders. A pot of milk was brought to us one evening, 

 which was more indebted to the Zambesi than to any cow. 

 Baskets of fine-looking white meal, elsewhere, had occa- 

 sionally the lower half filled with bran. Eggs are always 

 a perilous investment. The native idea of a good egg 

 differs as widely from our own as is possible on such a 

 trifling subject. An egg is eaten here with apparent 

 relish, though an embryo chick be inside. 



We left Mosi-oa-tunya on the 27th, and slept close to 

 the village of Bakwini. It is built on a ridge of loose red 

 soil, which produces great crops of mapira and ground- 

 nuts; many magnificent mosibe-trees stand near the vil- 

 lage. Machimisi, the headman of the village, possesses a 

 herd of cattle and a large heart ; he kept us company for 

 a couple of days to guide us on our way. 



We had heard a good deal of a stronghold some miles 

 below the Falls, called Kalunda. Our return path was 

 much nearer the Zambesi than that of our ascent, — in fact, 

 as near as the rough country would allow, — but we left it 

 twice before we reached Sinamane's, in order to see 

 Kalunda and a Fall called Moomba, or Moamba. The 

 Makololo had once dispossessed the Batoka of Kalunda, 

 but we could not see the fissure, or whatever it is, that 

 rendered it a place of security, as it was on the southern 

 bank. The crack of the Great Falls was here continued : 

 the rocks are the same as further up, but perhaps less 

 weather-worn — and now partially stratified in great thick 

 masses. The country through which we were travelling- 

 was covered with a cindery -looking volcanic tufa, and 

 might be called " Katakaumena." 



The description we received of the Moamba Falls 

 seemed to promise something grand. They were said to 



