310 
AFRICA AND ITS EXPLORATION. 
them where to hunt the elephants ; let them hunt as 
they will ; we want not the blood of the beasts, much 
less do we thirst for the blood of men ! ” 
It had been a Manansa custom, after the death of a 
king, for the men to meet together and conduct the 
heir to the royal residence ; then they brought a hand¬ 
ful of sand and small stones from the Zambesi, and a 
hammer ; these they gave him as tokens of his sove¬ 
reignty over the land and over water and iron, symbol¬ 
izing industry and labour. At the same time they 
reminded him of the obligation that rested upon him 
that from the day of his accession to the throne he was 
to eat the flesh neither of the rhinoceros nor the hippo¬ 
potamus, as these being “ mischievous ” animals, would 
be likely to impart their own evil qualities to him. 
Even regarded as unassociated with the magnificence 
of the Victoria Falls, the Albert country, with its 
wooded rocks and grassy valleys, is undoubtedly one of 
the most attractive districts in the whole of South 
Africa. Intersected by the Zambesi, it is bounded by 
the sandy pool plateau on the south, and extends as far 
as the mouth of the Cliobe on the west. Geologist, 
botanist, mineralogist, all alike must find it full of 
interest. Except the springboek, blessbock, and black 
mu, all the larger kinds of mammalia are to be seen 
that Southern and Central Africa can show. Reptiles 
are numerous, and crocodiles haunt the banks and 
troubled waters of the remotest mountain streams. In¬ 
sects of various sorts abound, the lepidoptera especially 
exhibiting new species. Let proper means be taken to 
exterminate the tsetse-fly, and to guard against the 
prevalence of summer fever, and the rich soil and mild 
climate of the valleys w r ould be found amply to repay a 
liberal cultivation, and would yield a profitable return 
of tropical produce. 
Dr. Holub’s account of his journey up the Zambesi 
from Sesheke gives a good idea of the character of that 
famous river. 
On the morning fixed for the start one of the Marutse 
sub-cliieftains came to me with a message that 1 was to 
