Tradition of i,ake dii,oi,o. 305 



trunk of a tree surrounded by them cannot be seen. A 

 piece of a hedge is often so hidden by this spider, that the 

 branches are invisible. Another is seen on the inside 

 of the walls of huts among the Makololo in great abun- 

 dance. It is round in shape, spotted, brown in colour, 

 and the body half an inch in diameter : the spread of the 

 legs is an inch and a half. It makes a smooth spot for 

 itself on the wall, covered with the above-mentioned 

 white silky substance. There it is seen standing the whole 

 day, and I never could ascertain how it fed. It has no 

 web, but a carpet, and is a harmless, though an ugly 

 neighbour. 



Immediately beyond Dilolo there is a large flat about 

 twenty miles in breadth. Here Shakatwala insisted on 

 our remaining to get supplies of food from Katema's 

 subjects, before entering the uninhabited watery plains. 

 When asked the meaning of the name Dilolo, Shakatwala 

 gave the following account of the formation of the lake. 

 A female chief, called Moene (lord) Monenga, came one 

 evening to the village of Mosogo, a man who lived in the 

 vicinity, but who had gone to hunt with his dogs. She 

 asked for a supply of food*, and Mosogo 's wife gave her 

 a sufficient quantity. "Proceeding to another village 

 standing on the spot now occupied by the water, she 

 preferred the same demand, and was not only refused, 

 but, when she uttered a threat for their niggardliness, 

 was taunted with the question, " What could she do 

 though she were thus treated ? " . In order to show what 

 she could do she began a song, in slow time, and uttered 

 her own name, Monenga-wo5. As she prolonged the last 

 note, the village, people, fowls, and dogs, sank into the 

 space now called Dilolo. When Kasimakate, the head- 

 man of this village, came home and found out the catas- 

 trophe, he cast himself into the lake, and is supposed 

 to be in it still. The name is derived from " ilolo," despair, 

 because this man gave up all hope when his family was 

 destroyed. Monenga was put to death. This may be 

 a faint tradition of the Deluge, and it is remarkable as the 

 only one I have met with in this country. 



Heavy rains prevented us from crossing the plain in 

 front (N.N.W.) in one day, and the constant wading 

 among the grass hurt the feet of the men. There is a foot- 

 path all the way across, but as this is worn down beneath 

 the level of the rest of the plain, it is necessarily the 



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