QUESTION OF CARRIERS. 301 



who said he had been born about the same time as the 

 late Matiamvo, and had been his constant companion 

 through life, visited us ; and as I was sitting on some grass 

 in front of the little gipsy tent mending my camp stool, 

 I invited him to take a seat on the grass beside me. This 

 was peremptorily refused : "he had never sat on the 

 ground during the late chief's reign, and he was not going 

 to degrade himself now." One of my men handed him 

 a log of wood taken from the fire, and helped him out of 

 the difficulty. When I offered him some cooked meat 

 on a plate, he would not touch that either, but would 

 take it home. So I humoured him by sending a servant 

 to bear a few ounces of meat to the town behind him. 

 He mentioned the 1,616 (L,ulua) as the branch of the Leeam- 

 bye which flows southwards or S.S.K. ; but the people of 

 Matiamvo had never gone far down it, as their chief had 

 always been afraid of encountering a tribe who, from 

 the description given, I could recognise as the Makololo. 

 He described five rivers as falling into the Iyolo, viz. the 

 Lishish, Liss or Lise, Kalileme, Ishidish, and Mol6ng. 

 None of these are large, but when they are united in the 

 Lolo, they form a considerable stream. The country 

 through which the Lolo flows is said to be flat, fertile, 

 well peopled, and there are large patches of forest. In 

 this report he agreed perfectly with the people of Matiamvo 

 whom we had met at Quendende's village. But we never 

 could get him, or any one in this quarter, to draw a map on 

 the ground, as people may readily be got to do in the south. 

 Katema promised us the aid of some of his people as 

 carriers, but his rule is not very stringent or efficient, 

 for they refused to turn out for the work. They were 

 Balobale ; and he remarked on their disobedience that, 

 though he received them as fugitives, they did not feel 

 grateful enough to obey, and if they continued rebellious 

 he must drive them back whence they came : but there 

 is little fear of that, as all the chiefs are excessively anxious 

 to collect men in great numbers around them. These 

 Balobale would not go, though our guide Shakatwala ran 

 after some of them with a drawn sword. This degree 

 of liberty to rebel was very striking to us, as it occurred 

 in a country where people may be sold, and often are so 

 disposed of when guilty of any crime ; and we well knew 

 that open disobedience like this among the Makololo, 

 would be punished with death without much ceremony. 



