Chap. XXV. 
FREEDOM OF SPEECH. 
497 
brother Limboa came, captured his women as they went to their 
gardens, and then appeared before his stockade. Masiko offered 
to lead liis men out; but they objected, saying, Let us servants 
be killed; you must not be slain.” Those who said this were young 
Barotse, who had been drilled to fighting by Sebituane, and used 
shields of ox-hide. They beat off the party of Limboa, ten being 
wounded, and ten slain in the engagement. Limboa subsequently 
sent three slaves, as a self-imposed fine to Masiko for attacking 
him. I succeeded in getting the Makololo to treat the messengers 
of Masiko well, though, as they regarded them as rebels, it was 
somewhat against the grain at first to speak civilly to them. 
Mpololo, attempting to justify an opposite line of conduct, told 
me how they had fied jhom Sebituane, even though he had given 
them numbers of cattle after their subjection by his arms, and 
was rather surprised to find that I was disposed to think more 
highly of them for having asserted then: independence, even at 
the loss of milk. For this food, all who have been accustomed to 
it from infancy in Africa, have an excessive longing. I pointed 
out how they might be mutually beneficial to each other by the 
exchange of canoes and cattle. 
There are some very old Barotse living here, who were the 
companions of the old chief Santuru. These men, protected by 
their age, were very free in their comments on the “ upstart ” 
Makololo. One of them, for instance, interrupted my conversation 
one day with some Makololo gentlemen, with the advice ‘‘ not to 
beheve them, for they were only a set of thievesand it was taken 
in quite a good-natured way. It is remarkable that none of the 
ancients here had any tradition of an earthquake having occurred 
in this region. Their quick perception of events recognisable by 
the senses, and retentiveness of memory, render it probable, that 
no perceptible movement of the earth has taken place between 7° 
and 27° S. in the centre of the continent, dm^ing the last two cen¬ 
turies at least. There is no appearance of recent fracture or dis¬ 
turbance of rocks to be seen in the central country, except the falls 
of Gonye. Nor is there any evidence, or tradition of hurricanes. 
I leffc Naliele on the 13th of August, and when proceeding 
along the shore at mid-day, a hippopotamus struck the canoe with 
her forehead, hfting one half of it quite out of the water, so as 
nearly to overturn it. The force of the butt she gave, tilted 
2 K 
