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
The morning sun gilds these columns of watery smoke with all the glowing
colours of double or treble rainbows. The evening sun, from a hot yellow
sky, imparts a sulphureous hue, and gives one the impression that the
yawning gulf might resemble the mouth of the bottomless pit. No bird
sits and sings on the branches of the grove of perpetual showers, or ever
builds its nest there. We saw hornbills and flocks of little black
weavers flying across from the mainland to the islands, and from the
islands to the points of the promontories and back again, but they
uniformly shunned the region of perpetual rain, occupied by the evergreen
grove. The sunshine, elsewhere in this land so overpowering, never
penetrates the deep gloom of that shade. In the presence of the strange
Mosi-oa-tunya, we can sympathize with those who, when the world was
young, peopled earth, air, and river, with beings not of mortal form.
Sacred to what deity would be this awful chasm and that dark grove, over
which hovers an ever-abiding "pillar of cloud"?
The ancient Batoka chieftains used Kazeruka, now Garden Island, and
Boaruka, the island further west, also on the lip of the Falls, as sacred
spots for worshipping the Deity. It is no wonder that under the cloudy
columns, and near the brilliant rainbows, with the ceaseless roar of the
cataract, with the perpetual flow, as if pouring forth from the hand of
the Almighty, their souls should be filled with reverential awe. It
inspired wonder in the native mind throughout the interior. Among the
first questions asked by Sebituane of Mr. Oswell and Dr. Livingstone, in
1851, was, "Have you any smoke soundings in your country," and "what
causes the smoke to rise for ever so high out of water?" In that year
its fame was heard 200 miles off, and it was approached within two days;
but it was seen by no European till 1855, when Dr. Livingstone visited it
on his way to the East Coast. Being then accompanied as far as this Fall
by Sekeletu and 200 followers, his stay was necessarily short; and the
two days there were employed in observations for fixing the geographical
position of the place, and turning the showers, that at times sweep from
the columns of vapour across the island, to account, in teaching the
Makololo arboriculture, and making that garden from which the natives
named the island; so that he did not visit the opposite sides of the
cleft, nor see the wonderful course of the river beyond the Falls. The
hippopotami had destroyed the trees which were then planted; and, though
a strong stockaded hedge was made again, and living orange-trees, cashew-
nuts, and coffee seeds put in afresh, we fear that the perseverance of
the hippopotami will overcome the obstacle of the hedge. It would
require a resident missionary to rear European fruit-trees. The period
at which the peach and apricot come into blossom is about the end of the
dry season, and artificial irrigation is necessary. The Batoka, the only
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account