250 
LIBONTA. 
Chap. XIV. 
done a good deal of miscliief here, and wlien tlie people went to 
attack it two men were badly wounded; one of them had his 
thigh-bone quite broken, showing the prodigious power of this 
animal’s jaws. The inflammation produced by the teeth-wounds 
proved fatal to one of them. 
Here we demanded the remainder of the captives, and got 
our number increased to nineteen. They consisted of women 
and children, and one young man of twenty. One of the boys 
was smuggled away in the crowd as we embarked. The Mako- 
lolo under-chiefs often act in dkect opposition to the will of 
the head chief, trusting to circumstances and brazenfacedness to 
screen themselves from his open displeasure; and as he does 
not always find it convenient to notice faults, they often go to 
considerable lengths in wrongdoing. 
Libonta is the last town of the Makololo, so, when we parted 
from it, we had only a few cattle-stations and outlying hamlets 
in front, and then an uninhabited border country till we came 
to Londa, or Lunda. Libonta is situated on a mound like the 
rest of the villages in the Barotse valley, but here the tree- 
covered sides of the valley begin to approach nearer the river. 
The village itself belongs to two of the chief wives of Sebituane, 
who furnished us with an ox and abundance of other food. The 
same kindness was manifested by all who could afford to give 
anything; and as I glance over them deeds of generosity re¬ 
corded in my journal, my heart glows with gratitude to them, 
and I hope and pray that God may spare me to make them 
some return. 
Before leaving the villages entirely, we may glance at our way 
of spending the nights. As soon as we land, some of the men cut 
a little grass for my bed, while Mashauana plants the poles of 
the little tent. These are used by day for carrying burdens, for 
the Barotse fashion is exactly like that of the natives of India, 
only the burden is fastened near the ends of the pole, and not 
suspended by long cords. The bed is made, and boxes ranged 
on each side of it, and then the tent pitched over all. Bour or 
five feet in front of my tent is placed the principal or kotla fire, 
the wood for which must be collected by the man who occupies 
the post of herald, and takes as his perquisite the heads of all the 
oxen slaughtered, and of all the game too. Each person knows 
