AFRICAN CANOES. 55 



X,ake, thinking to make soldiers of them, took the trouble 

 to furnish them with shields. " Ah ! we never had these 

 before ; that is the reason we have always succumbed. 

 Now we will fight." But a marauding party came from 

 the Makololo, and our ' * Friends " at once paddled quickly, 

 night and day, down the Zouga, never daring to look 

 behind them till they reached the end of the river, at the 

 point where we first saw it. 



The canoes of these inland sailors are truly primitive 

 craft : they are hollowed out of the trunks of single trees 

 by means of iron adzes ; and, if the tree has a bend, 

 so has the canoe. I liked the frank and manly bearing 

 of these men, and, instead of sitting in the waggon, pre- 

 ferred a seat in one of the canoes. I found they regarded 

 "their rude vessels as the Arab does his camel. They have 

 always fires in them, and prefer sleeping in them while on 

 a journey to spending the night on shore. " On land 

 you have lions " — say they — " serpents, hysenas, and 

 your enemies ; but in your canoe, behind a bank of reeds, 

 nothing can harm you." Their submissive disposition 

 leads to their villages being frequently visited by hungry 

 strangers. We had a pot on the fire in the canoe by 

 the way, and when we drew near the villages devoured 

 the contents. When fully satisfied ourselves, I found we 

 •could all look upon any intruders with perfect complacency 

 and show the pot in proof of having devoured the last 

 morsel. 



While ascending in this way the beautifully-wooded 

 river, we came to a large stream flowing into it. This 

 was the river Tamunak'le. I inquired whence it came. 

 " Oh, from a country full of rivers — so many no one can 

 tell their number — and full of large trees ! " This was the 

 first confirmation of statements I had heard from the 

 Bakwains who had been with Sebituane, that the country 

 beyond was not " the large sandy plateau " of the philo- 

 sophers. The prospect of a highway capable of being 

 traversed by boats to an entirely unexplored and very 

 populous region, grew from that time forward stronger 

 and stronger in my mind ; so much so, that, when we 

 actually came to the lake, this idea occupied such a large 

 portion of my mental vision that the actual discovery 

 seemed of but little importance. I find I wrote, when the 

 amotions caused by the magnificent prospects of the new 

 country were first awakened in my breast, that they 



