118 LIFE OF DA VID LIVINGSTONE, LL.D. 



we had been landed on the other side of the Chobe, we travelled northward 

 till within about one day from Sesheke, in order to avoid the flooded lands 

 adjacent to the river. We there struck upon the path which Mr. Oswell and 

 I travelled on horseback in 1850, and turning into it proceeded S.W. until we 

 came to Sekeletu's town Linyanti. Our reception here was as warm as could 

 have been expected. The chief Sekeletu, not yet 19 years of age, said he had 

 got another father instead of Sebituane ; he was not quite sure, however, 

 about learning to read : ' he feared it might change his heart and make him 

 content with one wife only, as in the case of Sechele.' It is pleasant to hear 

 objections frankly stated. 



" About the end of July we embarked on our journey to the North, 

 embarking at Sekhose's village on the Zambesi, or, as the aborigines 

 universally name it, the Leeambye, viz., the river. This village is about 25 

 miles West of the town of Sesheke\ When I proposed to Sekeletu to examine 

 his country and ascertain if there were any suitable locality for a mission, he 

 consented frankly ; but he had not yet seen me enough. Then he would not 

 allow me to go alone ; some evil might befall me, and he would be accountable. 

 This and fever caused some delay, so that we did not get off till about the end 

 of July. In the meantime I learned particulars of what had taken place here 

 since my last visit in 1852. 



" The daughter of Sebituane had resigned the chieftainship into 

 (Sekeletu's) her brother's hands. From all I can learn she did it gracefully 

 and sincerely. Influential men advised her to put Sekeletu to death, lest he 

 should become troublesome when he became older. She turned from their 

 proposals in disgust, called a meeting, and with a womanly gush of tears, 

 said she had been induced to rule by her father, but her own inclination had 

 always been to lead a domestic life. She therefore requested Sekeletu to take 

 the chieftainship, and allow her to marry. 



" He was equally sincere in a continued refusal during several days, for 

 he was afraid of being cut off by a pretender, who had the audacity to utter 

 some threatening words in the assembly. I, who had just come from a nine 

 weeks' tour, in company with a crowd who would have been her courtiers, do 

 not now wonder at the resolution of Sebituane' s daughter : there was no want 

 of food, oxen were slaughtered almost every day in numbers more than 

 sufficient for the wants of all. They were all as kind and attentive to me as 

 they could have been to her, yet to endure their dancing, roaring, and singing, 

 their jesting, anecdotes, grumbling, quarrelling, murdering, and meanness, 

 equalled a pretty stiff penance. 



" The pretender above referred to, after Sekeletu's accession, and at the 

 time of my arrival, believing that he could effect his object by means of a 

 Portuguese slave-merchant and a number of armed Mambari, encouraged them 

 to the utmost. The selling of children had been positively forbidden by the 



