South and South Central Africa: A record of fifteen years' missionary labors among primitive peoplesDavidson, Hannah Frances
History
South and South Central Africa: A record of fifteen years' missionary labors among primitive peoples
Davidson, Hannah Frances
Brethren in Christ Church -- Missions; Missions -- Rhodesia; Ndebele (African people); Tsonga (African people)
On the first day out our wagon came up with Mr. King's company, which
consisted of five large wagons, all heavily laden with goods and each
drawn by eighteen oxen. They were traveling north to within twenty-five
miles of Kalomo, and thence west and north to Tanganyika. We might have
delayed a year and not have found so good an opportunity of traveling by
wagon to Kalomo. We followed this train of wagons and had no anxious
thought in reference to the journey. Traveling by ox-wagons is done
chiefly at night, or from very early morning until 9 A. M. Then the oxen
are outspanned and allowed to graze and rest during the heat of the day,
while the travelers cook, eat, and rest. Late in the afternoon the oxen
are again inspanned and they travel until about 9 or 10 P. M., when they
stop for the night. One or two large fires of logs are built at each
wagon and kept burning through the night to ward off wild beasts from
the oxen. Animals are afraid of the fire; especially do lions love
darkness rather than light, their favorite nights for prowling being the
dark, rainy ones. This king of beasts, although the strongest, is by no
means the bravest. He does his loudest roaring in the midst of his
native haunts, far away from harm, and when near his prey, human or
otherwise, his tread is most stealthy and catlike.
Before retiring for the night the natives, especially, cook and eat.
They often do with a small portion of food during the day, but before
retiring they like an abundance of good porridge and meat. They then
retire to rest, their favorite place being around the huge campfires.
Sister Engle and I were very comfortably situated in the tent of the
wagon. Two other difficulties likely to meet travelers in this part of
the country are scarcity of water and the tsetse fly. If the latter is
met with it is necessary to make the journey through the infested
district entirely by night. Since the uninitiated are not familiar with
the location of these districts, the oxen are often bitten without their
knowledge, and death is certain, for as yet no remedy for the bite has
been discovered. As for water, that is one of the great difficulties on
these African plateaus, and at one time we were obliged to travel
seventeen miles without seeing any. Since oxen, with heavily-laden
wagons, travel slowly, this required the oxen to be inspanned three
times before water was reached. Mr. King rode a horse and went in
advance to look for water and camping places, and also for game, which
generally furnishes a large proportion of the food, both for white
people and black ones on such trips. We ourselves would be favored with
a piece of delicious venison after such excursions. Water in casks was
carried along from one watering place to another for cooking and
drinking purposes, but it is never drunk without being boiled or made
into tea, and even then it is often very muddy-looking.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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