Chap, XXV. 
A MAIDEN’S CHOICE. 
509 
these cases of marriage^ the consent of the young women is seldom 
asked. A maidservant of Sekeletu, however, pronounced by 
the Makololo to be goodlooking, was at this time sought in mar¬ 
riage by five young men. Sekeletu, happening to be at my 
waggon when one of these preferred his suit, very coolly ordered 
all five to stand in a row before the young woman, that she might 
make her choice. Two refused to stand, apparently, because they 
could not brook the idea of a repulse, although willing enough to 
take her, if Sekeletu had acceded to their petition without refer¬ 
ence to her will. Three dandified fellows stood forth, and she 
unhesitatiugly decided on taking one who was really the best 
looking. It was amusiug to see the mortification exhibited on 
the black faces of the unsuccessful candidates, wliile the spec¬ 
tators greeted them with a hearty laugh. 
During the whole of my stay with the Makololo, Sekeletu 
suppHed my wants abundantly, appointmg some cows to fornish 
me with milk, and, when he went out to hunt, sent home orders 
for slaughtered oxen to be given. That the food was not given in 
a niggardly sphit, may be inferred from the fact, that, when I pro¬ 
posed to depart on the 20th of October, he protested against my 
going off in such a hot sun. Only wait,” said he, “ for the first 
shower, and then I will let you go.” This was reasonable, for 
the thermometer, placed upon a deal box in the sun, rose to 138°. 
It stood at 108° in the shade by day, and 96° at sunset. If 
my experiments were correct, the blood of a European is of a 
higher temperature than that of an African. The bulb, held 
under my tongue, stood at 100°, rmder that of the natives, at 98°. 
There was much sickness in the town, and no wonder, for part of 
the water left by the inundation, still formed a large pond in the 
centre. Even the plains between Linyanti and Sesheke had not 
yet been freed from the waters of the inundation. They had 
risen higher than usual, and for a long time, canoes passed from 
the one place to the other, a distance of upwards of 120 miles, in 
nearly a straight line. We found many patches of stagnant water, 
wliioh, when distobed by om: passing through them, evolved 
strong effluvia of sulphuretted hydrogen. At other times these 
spots exhibit an efflorescence of the nitrate of soda; they also con¬ 
tain abundance of hme, probably from decaying vegetable matter, 
and from these may have emanated the malaria which caused 
