A Popular Account of Dr. Livingstone's Expedition to the Zambesi and Its Tributaries: And of the Discovery of Lakes Shirwa and Nyassa, 1858-1864Livingstone, David
History
A Popular Account of Dr. Livingstone's Expedition to the Zambesi and Its Tributaries: And of the Discovery of Lakes Shirwa and Nyassa, 1858-1864
Livingstone, David
Africa, Central -- Description and travel; Africa, Central -- Discovery and exploration
When abreast of the high wooded island Kalabi we came in contact with one
of the game-laws of the country, which has come down from the most
ancient times. An old buffalo crossed the path a few yards in front of
us; our guide threw his small spear at its hip, and it was going off
scarcely hurt, when three rifle balls knocked it over. "It is mine,"
said the guide. He had wounded it first, and the established native game-
law is that the animal belongs to the man who first draws blood; the two
legs on one side, by the same law, belonged to us for killing it. This
beast was very old, blind of one eye, and scabby; the horns, mere stumps,
not a foot long, must have atrophied, when by age he lost the strength
distinctive of his sex; some eighteen or twenty inches of horn could not
well be worn down by mere rubbing against the trees. We saw many
buffaloes next day, standing quietly amidst a thick thorn-jungle, through
which we were passing. They often stood until we were within fifty or a
hundred yards of them.
On the 14th July we left the river at the mountain-range, which, lying
north-east and south-west across the river, forms the Kariba gorge. Near
the upper end of the Kariba rapids, the stream Sanyati enters from the
south, and is reported to have Moselekatse's principal cattle-posts at
its sources; our route went round the end of the mountains, and we
encamped beside the village of the generous chief Moloi, who brought us
three immense baskets of fine mapira meal, ten fowls, and two pots of
beer. On receiving a present in return, he rose, and, with a few dancing
gestures, said or sang, "Motota, Motota, Motota," which our men
translated into "thanks." He had visited Moselekatse a few months before
our arrival, and saw the English missionaries, living in their wagons.
"They told Moselekatse," said he, "they were of his family, or friends,
and would plough the land and live at their own expense;" and he had
replied, "The land is before you, and I shall come and see you plough."
This again was substantially what took place, when Mr. Moffat introduced
the missionaries to his old friend, and shows still further that the
notion of losing their country by admitting foreigners does not come as
the first idea to the native mind. One might imagine that, as mechanical
powers are unknown to the heathen, the almost magic operations of
machinery, the discoveries of modern science and art, or the presence of
the prodigious force which, for instance, is associated with the sight of
a man-of-war, would have the effect which miracles once had of arresting
the attention and inspiring awe. But, though we have heard the natives
exclaim in admiration at the sight of even small illustrations of what
science enables us to do--"Ye are gods, and not men"--the heart is
unaffected. In attempting their moral elevation, it is always more
conducive to the end desired, that the teacher should come unaccompanied
by any power to cause either jealousy or fear.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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