In Either Case,
Slavery Must Have Been The Portion Of These Poor People.
He was carried
in a hammock, slung between two poles, which appearing to be a bag,
the Makololo named him "Father of the Bag".
Mpepe favored these slave-traders, and they, as is usual with them,
founded all their hopes of influence on his successful rebellion.
My arrival on the scene was felt to be so much weight in the scale
against their interests. A large party of Mambari had come to Linyanti
when I was floundering on the prairies south of the Chobe.
As the news of my being in the neighborhood reached them
their countenances fell; and when some Makololo, who had assisted us
to cross the river, returned with hats which I had given them,
the Mambari betook themselves to precipitate flight. It is usual for visitors
to ask formal permission before attempting to leave a chief,
but the sight of the hats made the Mambari pack up at once.
The Makololo inquired the cause of the hurry, and were told that,
if I found them there, I should take all their slaves and goods from them;
and, though assured by Sekeletu that I was not a robber,
but a man of peace, they fled by night, while I was still sixty miles off.
They went to the north, where, under the protection of Mpepe, they had erected
a stockade of considerable size. There, several half-caste slave-traders,
under the leadership of a native Portuguese, carried on their traffic,
without reference to the chief into whose country they had unceremoniously
introduced themselves; while Mpepe, feeding them with the cattle of Sekeletu,
formed a plan of raising himself, by means of their fire-arms, to be
the head of the Makololo. The usual course which the slave-traders adopt
is to take a part in the political affairs of each tribe,
and, siding with the strongest, get well paid by captures made
from the weaker party. Long secret conferences were held
by the slave-traders and Mpepe, and it was deemed advisable for him
to strike the first blow; so he provided himself with a small battle-axe,
with the intention of cutting Sekeletu down the first time they met.
My object being first of all to examine the country for a healthy locality,
before attempting to make a path to either the East or West Coast,
I proposed to Sekeletu the plan of ascending the great river
which we had discovered in 1851. He volunteered to accompany me,
and, when we got about sixty miles away, on the road to Sesheke,
we encountered Mpepe. The Makololo, though possessing abundance of cattle,
had never attempted to ride oxen until I advised it in 1851. The Bechuanas
generally were in the same condition, until Europeans came among them
and imparted the idea of riding. All their journeys previously
were performed on foot. Sekeletu and his companions were mounted on oxen,
though, having neither saddle nor bridle, they were perpetually falling off.
Mpepe, armed with his little axe, came along a path parallel to,
but a quarter of a mile distant from, that of our party,
and, when he saw Sekeletu, he ran with all his might toward us;
but Sekeletu, being on his guard, galloped off to an adjacent village.
He then withdrew somewhere till all our party came up. Mpepe had given
his own party to understand that he would cut down Sekeletu, either on
their first meeting, or at the breaking up of their first conference.
The former intention having been thus frustrated, he then determined
to effect his purpose after their first interview. I happened to sit down
between the two in the hut where they met. Being tired with riding all day
in the sun, I soon asked Sekeletu where I should sleep, and he replied,
"Come, I will show you." As we rose together, I unconsciously covered
Sekeletu's body with mine, and saved him from the blow of the assassin.
I knew nothing of the plot, but remarked that all Mpepe's men
kept hold of their arms, even after we had sat down - a thing quite unusual
in the presence of a chief; and when Sekeletu showed me the hut in which
I was to spend the night, he said to me, "That man wishes to kill me."
I afterward learned that some of Mpepe's attendants had divulged the secret;
and, bearing in mind his father's instructions, Sekeletu put Mpepe to death
that night. It was managed so quietly, that, although I was sleeping
within a few yards of the scene, I knew nothing of it till the next day.
Nokuane went to the fire, at which Mpepe sat, with a handful of snuff,
as if he were about to sit down and regale himself therewith.
Mpepe said to him, "Nsepisa" (cause me to take a pinch);
and, as he held out his hand, Nokuane caught hold of it,
while another man seized the other hand, and, leading him out a mile,
speared him. This is the common mode of executing criminals.
They are not allowed to speak; though on one occasion a man, feeling his wrist
held too tightly, said, "Hold me gently, can't you? you will soon be led out
in the same way yourselves." Mpepe's men fled to the Barotse,
and, it being unadvisable for us to go thither during the commotion
which followed on Mpepe's death, we returned to Linyanti.
The foregoing may be considered as a characteristic specimen
of their mode of dealing with grave political offenses. In common cases
there is a greater show of deliberation. The complainant asks the man
against whom he means to lodge his complaint to come with him to the chief.
This is never refused. When both are in the kotla, the complainant
stands up and states the whole case before the chief and the people
usually assembled there. He stands a few seconds after he has done this,
to recollect if he has forgotten any thing.
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