“One of the men appointed by the king to guide me--himself a man of high character and good family, as Mr. Thomson tells me--left Gubuleweyo with me, and this morning hurried on to get bearers for me at the kraals ahead. I shall want from twenty to thirty, and as it will take some time to collect them, and my oxen want rest, I shall follow slowly, making a three or four days’ journey of what is usually done in two days. At Inyati, where I am to leave my waggon, are two white men trading. These are the last outposts of civilization, but up to that point there is regular communication all the way--that is to say, all the way my waggon takes me. If I find that I am delayed and cannot reach the Falls as quickly as I had hoped, I shall very likely turn back without accomplishing my object, as I am desirous not to run any foolish risks, and have been at great pains in collecting all possible information. “The men who carry my things will be most of them of the conquered population, and the two guides appointed by the king (one of whom, as I have mentioned, left me this morning to go on in advance, the other being now at Inyati) are able to do what they like. No one dare oppose the king, and the Matabele men he gives me renders any fear of desertion or disobedience superfluous. Besides, these two men know that they must carry out the king’s orders to the letter. I have also got an interpreter, a man who speaks English and Kafir perfectly, my own servant Hendrik, and my driver and his boy.[22] I shall take my tent if possible, plenty of ground sheets and bedding, meal, tins of biscuits, and coffee. For meat we have to rely on the guns carried by the party, but there seems not the slightest fear of scarcity, in fact the bearers are expected to live entirely on meat, having guns and ammunition allowed them for the purpose. No beast of burden or dog can accompany us, as it is the tsetse-fly country. “Had it been earlier in the season I should have gone from the Tati, by which route you can take your waggon to within a few miles of the Falls, but as I should have had to see the king first, to get his permission, by the time I could have returned to the Tati it would have been too late. I have not a map before me now, but suppose it may be 200 miles or thereabouts from Inyati, my starting-point, to the Victoria Falls. I shall hurry on to the Zambesi, so as to leave the river as soon as possible. I can then take my time in returning, as when I leave the river the worst is over, and I soon get into a healthy country again, but, as of course every one knows, the Zambesi at certain seasons of the year is unhealthy. All this I have carefully studied, and have been guided by what I consider reliable evidence. I shall be further guided by circumstances that may occur, and shall exercise my judgment as to how far I carry out my original project.”