South African Memories: Social, Warlike & Sporting from Diaries Written at the TimeWilson, Sarah Isabella Augusta, Lady
History
South African Memories: Social, Warlike & Sporting from Diaries Written at the Time
Wilson, Sarah Isabella Augusta, Lady
South Africa -- Description and travel; South African War, 1899-1902 -- Personal narratives
Yes, that white cloud has been there for centuries, and will be there
while the world lasts, in spite of trains, bridges, etc. It marks the
Victoria Falls, and is a landmark for many miles round. How amazed must
the great Livingstone and his intrepid followers have been to see this
first sign of their grand discovery after their weary march through a
country of dense forests and sandy wastes, the natural features of which
could not in the least have suggested such marvels as exist in the
stupendous river and the water-power to which it gives birth! When
mentioning that great explorer--whose name in this district, after a
lapse of nearly fifty years, remains a household word among the natives,
handed down from father to son--it is a curious fact, and one that
should prove a lesson to many travellers from the old world as well as
from the new, that only on one tree is he believed to have cut his
initials in Africa, and that tree stands on the island in the centre of
the Zambesi, the island that bears his name, and that absolutely
overhangs and stems the centre of the awe-inspiring cataract.
I must now try in a few words to give a short account of what we saw at
the Victoria Falls in July, 1903, when the breath of civilization had
scarcely touched them. To-day they are easy of access, and the changes
that have been wrought have come so swiftly that, no doubt, recent
visitors will scarcely recognize the localities of which I write. I must
first ask such to be lenient with me, and to follow me down the sandy
road leading from the Constitution Hill Compound to the Controller's
Camp on the bank of the river, about two miles nearer the Falls. There
were to be seen a collection of huts and offices, where the Controller
conducted his important business of food-purveyor to the community, and
a Government inspector of cattle had equally arduous duties to perform.
I must mention that, owing to disease in the south, cattle were then not
allowed to cross the Zambesi, and horses and dogs had to be disinfected
before they were permitted to leave the south bank. Their troubles were
not even then over, as they had to be swum across the river, and, owing
to its enormous width, the poor horses were apt to become exhausted
halfway over, and had to be towed the rest of the way, their heads being
kept out of the water--an operation attended with a certain amount of
risk. It followed that very few horses were crossed over at all, and
that these animals in North-Western Rhodesia were at a premium.
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