226 sequasha. Chap. VIII. 



fluence appeared to have affected man and beast. A dark 

 coloured hippopotamus stood alone, as if expelled from the 

 herd, and bit the water, shaking his head from side to 

 side in a most frantic manner. When the female has 

 twins, she is said to kill one of them. 



We touched at the beautiful tree-covered island of 

 Kalabi, opposite where Tuba-mokoro lectured the lion in 

 our way up. The ancestors of the people who now 

 inhabit this island possessed cattle. The tsetse has taken 

 possession of the country since " the beeves were lifted." 

 No one knows where these insects breed ; at a certain 

 season all disappear, and as suddenly come back, no one 

 knows whence. The natives are such close observers of 

 nature, that their ignorance in this case surprised us. A 

 solitary hippopotamus had selected the little bay in which 

 we landed, and where the women drew water, for his 

 dwelling-place. Pretty little lizards, with light blue and 

 red tails, run among the rocks, catching flies and other 

 insects. These harmless — though to new-comers re- 

 pulsive — creatures sometimes perform good service to 

 man, by eating great numbers of the destructive white 

 ants. 



At noon on the 24th October, we found Sequasha in a 

 village below the Kafue, with the main body of his 

 people. He said that 210 elephants had been killed 

 during his trip ; many of his men being excellent hunters. 

 The numbers of animals we saw renders this possible. 

 He reported that, after reaching the Kafue, he went 

 northwards into the country of the Zulus, whose ancestors 

 formerly migrated from the south and set up a sort of 

 Eepublican form of government. Sequasha is the greatest 

 Portuguese traveller we ever became acquainted with, and 

 he boasts that he is able to speak a dozen different 

 dialects ; yet, unfortunately, he can give but a very 

 meagre account of the countries and people he has seen, 



