Here, As Elsewhere,
All Petitioned For The Magic Lantern, And, As It Is A Good Means
Of Conveying Instruction, I Willingly Complied.
The falls of Gonye have not been made by wearing back, like those of Niagara,
but are of a fissure form.
For many miles below, the river is confined
in a narrow space of not more than one hundred yards wide.
The water goes boiling along, and gives the idea of great masses of it
rolling over and over, so that even the most expert swimmer
would find it difficult to keep on the surface. Here it is that the river,
when in flood, rises fifty or sixty feet in perpendicular height.
The islands above the falls are covered with foliage as beautiful
as can be seen any where. Viewed from the mass of rock
which overhangs the fall, the scenery was the loveliest I had seen.
Nothing worthy of note occurred on our way up to Nameta.
There we heard that a party of the Makololo, headed by Lerimo,
had made a foray to the north and up the Leeba, in the very direction
in which we were about to proceed. Mpololo, the uncle of Sekeletu,
is considered the head man of the Barotse valley; and the perpetrators
had his full sanction, because Masiko, a son of Santuru,
the former chief of the Barotse, had fled high up the Leeambye,
and, establishing himself there, had sent men down to the vicinity of Naliele
to draw away the remaining Barotse from their allegiance.
Lerimo's party had taken some of this Masiko's subjects prisoners,
and destroyed several villages of the Balonda, to whom we were going.
This was in direct opposition to the policy of Sekeletu,
who wished to be at peace with these northern tribes;
and Pitsane, my head man, was the bearer of orders to Mpololo
to furnish us with presents for the very chiefs they had attacked.
Thus we were to get large pots of clarified butter and bunches of beads,
in confirmation of the message of peace we were to deliver.
When we reached Litofe, we heard that a fresh foray was in contemplation,
but I sent forward orders to disband the party immediately.
At Ma-Sekeletu's town we found the head offender, Mpololo himself,
and I gave him a bit of my mind, to the effect that, as I was going
with the full sanction of Sekeletu, if any harm happened to me
in consequence of his ill-advised expedition, the guilt would rest with him.
Ma-Sekeletu, who was present, heartily approved all I said,
and suggested that all the captives taken by Lerimo should be returned
by my hand, to show Masiko that the guilt of the foray
lay not with the superior persons of the Makololo, but with a mere servant.
Her good sense appeared in other respects besides, and, as this was exactly
what my own party had previously resolved to suggest, we were pleased to hear
Mpololo agree to do what he was advised.
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