196 ASCENT OF THE I,EEAMBYE. 



CHAPTER XII. 



Having at last procured a sufficient number of canoes, we 

 began to ascend the river. I had the choice of the whole 

 fleet, and selected the best, though not the largest ; it 

 was thirty-four feet long by twenty inches wide. I had 

 six paddlers, and the larger canoe of Sekeletu had ten. 

 They stand upright, and keep the stroke with great pre- 

 cision, though they change from side to side as the course 

 demands. The men at the head and stern are selected 

 from the strongest and most expert of the whole. The 

 canoes, being flat-bottomed, can go into very shallow 

 water ; and whenever the men can feel the bottom they 

 use the paddles, which are about eight feet long, as poles 

 to punt with. Our fleet consisted of thirty -three canoes, 

 and about one hundred and sixty men. It was beautiful 

 to see them skimming along so quickly, and keeping the 

 time so well. On land the Makalaka fear the Makololo ; 

 on water the Makololo fear them, and cannot prevent 

 them from racing with each other, dashing along at the 

 top of their speed, and placing their masters' lives in 

 danger. In the event of a capsize many of the Makololo 

 would sink like stones. A case of this kind happened on 

 the first day of our voyage up. The wind, blowing 

 generally from the east, raises very large waves on the 

 Leeambye. An old doctor of the Makololo had his canoe 

 filled by one of these waves, and, being unable to swim, 

 was lost ; the Barotse who were in the canoe with him 

 saved themselves by swimming, and were afraid of being 

 punished with death in the evening for not saving the 

 doctor as well. Had he been a man of more influence, 

 they certainly would have suffered death. 



We proceeded rapidly up the river, and I felt the 

 pleasure of looking on lands which had never been seen 

 by an European before. The river is, indeed, a magnificent 

 one, often more than a mile broad, and adorned with many 

 islands of from three to five miles in length. Both islands 

 and banks are covered with forest, and most of the trees 

 on the brink of the water send down roots from their 

 branches like the banian, or Ficus Indica. The islands at 

 a little distance seem great rounded masses of sylvan 

 vegetation reclining on the bosom of the glorious stream. 

 The beauty of the scenery of some of the islands is greatly 



