Great African Travellers: From Mungo Park to Livingstone and StanleyKingston, William Henry Giles
History
Great African Travellers: From Mungo Park to Livingstone and Stanley
Kingston, William Henry Giles
Africa -- Description and travel; Africa -- Discovery and exploration; Explorers
As soon as Dr Livingstone announced his intention of proceeding to the
east, numerous volunteers came forward to accompany him. From among
them he selected a hundred and fourteen trustworthy men, and Sekeletu
appointed two, Sekwebu and Kanyata, as leaders of the company. Sekwebu
had been captured, when a child, from the Matabele, and his tribe now
inhabited the country near Tete; he had frequently travelled along the
banks of the Zambesi, and spoke the various dialects of the people
residing on them, and was, moreover, a man of sound judgment and
prudence, and rendered great service to the expedition.
On the 3rd of November Dr Livingstone, bidding farewell to his friends
at Linyanti, set out, accompanied by Sekeletu and two hundred followers.
On reaching a patch of country infested by the _tsetse_ it became
necessary to travel at night. A fearful storm broke forth, sometimes
the lightning, spreading over the sky, forming eight or ten branches
like those of a gigantic tree. At times the light was so great that the
whole country could be distinctly seen, and in the intervals between the
flashes it was as densely dark. The horses trembled, turning round to
search for each other, while the thunder crashed with tremendous roars,
louder than is heard in other regions, the rain pelting down, making the
party feel miserably cold after the heat of the day. At length a fire,
left by some previous travellers, appeared in the distance. The
doctor's baggage having gone on before, he had to lie down on the cold
ground, when Sekeletu kindly covered him with his own blanket, remaining
without shelter himself. Before parting at Sesheke, the generous chief
supplied the doctor with twelve oxen, three accustomed to be ridden on,
hoes and beads to purchase a canoe, an abundance of fresh butter and
honey; and, indeed, he did everything in his power to assist him in his
journey.
Bidding farewell to Sekeletu, the doctor and his attendants sailed down
the river to its confluence with the Chobe. Having reached this spot,
he prepared to strike across the country to the north-east, in order to
reach the northern bank of the Zambesi. Before doing so, however, he
determined to visit the Victoria or Mozioatunya Falls, of which he had
often heard. The meaning of the word is: "Smoke does sound there," in
reference to the vapour and noise produced by the falls. After twenty
minutes' sail from Kalai they came in sight of five columns of vapour,
appropriately called "smoke," rising at a distance of five or six miles
off, and bending as they ascended before the wind, the tops appearing to
mingle with the clouds. The scene was extremely beautiful. The banks
and the islands which appeared here and there amid the stream, were
richly adorned with trees and shrubs of various colours, many being in
full blossom. High above all rose an enormous baobab-tree surrounded by
groups of graceful palms.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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