3;:8 AFRICA AND ITS EXPLORATION. 
of the great potentate Lo-bengula, Mr. Selous went on to 
apprise the king of the approach of a stranger. Mr. 
Kerr goes on to say :— 
A messenger, sent by King Lo-bengula, now arrived 
from Selous. The object of his mission was to escort us 
past numerous Matabeli maize-fields and villages which 
now lay on our line of march to Buluwayo, the king’s 
town. 
The messenger handed me a letter from Selous, which 
was very welcome, because I was extremely anxious to 
hear something about the frame of mind of the monarch. 
Selous said, “ Lo-ben is friendly, and prospect fair for 
your getting permission to go through his country.” 
Lo-ben’s emissary was an immensely big fellow, and a 
good type of the young and stalwart Matabeli warrior, 
looking as though his life had been passed in a thriving 
land of plenty. His head-dress consisted of ostrich 
feathers cut short, and trimmed so as to form a large 
rosette, through which a long black feather was stuck. 
He carried a black ox-hide shield, interlaced with white 
thongs : he had three assegais and a knobkerry. 
A Matabeli garden was close to us on the top of the 
hill ; properly speaking, it was a patch of land under 
cultivation, for all the fields of corn in this country are, 
by the white man, called gardens. The garden, which 
was named “ Mavuba,” overlooked an immense valley, 
partly covered with trees, through which the road passed. 
I had a hurried meal, cooked by Sebina, the black girl, 
who had accompanied us all the way. Crowds of 
Matabeli people came to look at us, and some of them 
pounced with wonderful avidity at the remaining 
feathers of the pauw, which were long and pretty, 
being of a greyish colour, crossed here and there with 
white. They prize these feathers very highly as orna¬ 
ments for their heads, and any one would admit that the 
decoration is remarkably becoming to the wild-looking, 
black sons of Nature. 
Getting under weigh, and crossing the long valley, we 
soon ascended the southern slopes of the great granite 
mountains which form the division between the waters 
