THE REGION SOUTH OF THE ZAMBESI. 273 
last readied tlie Zambesi. On tlie 12tli of June, 1870, 
lie tells us :— 
After a good rest we packed up our bundles again 
early the next morning. Cluley and I enjoyed a cup 
of tea and some cold guinea-hen, and the natives 
received the last of the durra. When we started, 
Debgue begged me to go on in advance, for he had 
suddenly conceived a great horror of my sextant, being 
unable to understand how a white man, in a country in 
which he had never been before, could tell what 
direction to take, and where to look for the village of 
Wanki, the rivers, &c. 
I went on then at the head of my little party, and 
as the country w T as freer from jungle, &c., I was able 
to maintain a more northerly course. The vegetation, 
especially the grass, seemed fresher and more luxuriant. 
After we had walked an hour and a half by my watch, 
Sililo suddenly stood still, and pointing to the ground, 
exclaimed in great surprise, “ M’Abantu ! ” (men). All 
the Kaffirs hurried up, and then dividing, examined 
every thicket, for as we came from the direction of the 
dreaded Matabeles, who had driven Wanki out of his 
old home some time ago, they were afraid of falling 
into an ambush of his spies. The footprints of men, 
therefore, which we had sought for in vain in the 
great wilderness for weeks, now only caused fear and 
anxiety. 
We went on cautiously, and presently we got an 
uninterrupted view towards the north, and caught sight 
of the flourishing maize plantations and huts of the 
long-desired village of Wanki; but even now w T e could 
not see the great river, though w T e could hear its roar 
far beneath us. Soon, however, we came to an old 
well-worn footpath leading abruptly down towards the 
north; w r e followed it, and at ten minutes past nine on 
Sunday morning, the 12th of June, 1870, I at last 
stood on the banks of the Zambesi. 
To announce our arrival to the inhabitants of the 
village, I fired several shots in rapid succession, and it 
was not long before the astonished people ran down to 
T 
