262 MATABELE LAND. 



during the months when the Zambesi is in flood." 

 It is unfortunate that no general view of the Falls 

 except a bird's-eye one from the high ground some 

 miles distant, can be obtained, owing to the vegeta- 

 tion on the south side of the fissure and the dense 

 clouds of spray rising from the chasm. " But for 

 this," says Chapman, "the Victoria Falls, presenting 

 one unobstructed view, would not alone have been 

 the most magnificent, but the most stupendous, sight 

 of the kind on the face of the globe." 



And now, resuming our story, the remaining inci- 

 dents are soon related. From the time of his arrival 

 at the Falls till the date of his return to the Panda- 

 matenga, Frank Oates made, as has been stated, no 

 entries in his Journal. Again at the Pandamatenga, 

 however, on the 13th, he made a few notes, but 

 they were of the briefest description. It was the 

 19th of the month when he finally left this point, 

 moving southwards, Mr. Westbeech — now back 

 from the Zambesi and accompanied by Dr. Bradshaw 

 — starting in the like direction on the same day. 

 Two of Frank Oates's native servants were by this 

 time ill with fever, taken no doubt on the Zambesi, 

 but the rest of the party so far continued well. 



On the 25th, however, at the "pan" called 

 Geruah, the beauty of which had struck him on his 

 journey north, Frank Oates himself complained to 

 his companions — for his own waggon and that of 

 Mr. Westbeech were never far apart as they ad- 

 vanced — of slight headache, the usual precursor and 



