LIVINGSTONE AS A PEA CE-MAKER. 129 



its head and about a foot of its neck erect, quietly waits until one of them, 

 more reckless than the rest, comes within reach of its spring. 



The snake-bird, so called because in swimming the whole body is 

 submerged, and only the head and neck appear above water, floated about them. 

 The fish-hawk and the pelican preyed on the finny tribe on the shoals, 

 the former sometimes relieving the pouch of the latter of its prey when its 

 ungainly bill was temptingly open. Guinea fowls were common on the banks, 

 while snipes, herons, spoon-bills, scissor-bills, flamingoes, cranes, geese, and 

 various other aquatic birds, were met with in great numbers, especially in the 

 uninhabited districts. Vast shoals of fish descended the river with the floods, 

 the rainy season having set in. These are taken by the natives in the shallow 

 creeks, in baskets, nets, and by clumsy hooks. When not eaten fresh, they are 

 preserved by smoke-drying for future use. Several species of mullet are very 

 abundant, and are the most in favour as food. Crocodiles and iguanas, a 

 species of lizard, the flesh of which is greatly relished by the natives, plunged 

 into the water at the approach of the canoes ; while in creeks and shady parts 

 hippopotami floundered about, the females carrying their young upon their 

 backs. 



Elephants, rhinoceroses, antelopes, zebras, etc., were abundant on land, 

 and as a consequence lions, leopards, and other carnivorous animals were 

 common. 



When nearing Naliele, Livingstone heard that a party of Makololo, 

 headed by Lerimo, an under chief, had carried out a successful foray against 

 Masiko, a son of Santuru, the chief of a tribe who had settled with his people 

 to the north of Naliele. This expedition was undertaken with the full sanction 

 of Mpololo, the uncle of Sekeletu, and head chief of the district. Some prisoners 

 had been taken and several villages destroyed. As this was in the direction 

 Livingstone was going, and as Sekeletu had strictly forbidden that such forays 

 should be undertaken, he determined, in the name and by the authority of 

 Sekeletu, to condemn the transaction and compel restitution of the prisoners, 

 he undertaking to conduct them to their homes. 



At Ma Sekeletu's town he found Mpololo himself, and being supported 

 by the mother of Sekeletu, he succeeded in getting the captives returned to 

 their homes, and an apology sent to Masiko. A fresh foray, for which a 

 number of men had been collected, was abandoned ; and through the influence 

 of Livingstone a cowardly warfare, undertaken for the purpose of plunder, 

 was prevented, and a knowledge of the peaceful and wise designs of Sekeletu 

 disseminated, which could not fail to be of much value to the comfort and 

 happiness of the district. 



Mosantu, a Batoko man, was despatched to Masiko with the captives of 

 his tribe, with a message that he (Livingstone) was sorry to find that Santuru 

 had not borne a wiser son ; Santuru loved to govern men, but Masiko wanted 

 s 



