. For this reason there was, in 1903, a
very meagre population for many hundreds of miles north of the Zambesi
in this direction; and of cattle, for which there is pasture in
abundance, there was hardly one to be seen. One has to travel much
farther north and west to find the densely populated valleys, whose
inhabitants own Lewanika, Chief of the Barotse, as their ruler, who look
to the great white British King as their protector, and to the Chartered
Company as the immediate purveyor of their wants.

Of these natives the chief tribes are, first, the Barotse themselves,
who are the most numerous, and who inhabit the low-lying country along
the Zambesi Valley north of Sesheke, and up to Lia-Lui, their capital.

The second in importance are the Mushukulumbwe, which, translated
literally, means "naked people." This designation was given them as a
reproach by their friends, as the male element wear no clothes; and
should they possess a blanket, they would only throw it round their
shoulders whilst standing still or sitting down. When remonstrated with
by the well-meaning missionaries on the absence of any attire, they are
wont to reply: "Are we women or children, that we should fear the cold?
Our fathers needed no clothes, nor do we." They are keen hunters and
trackers, essentially a warlike people, tall and good-looking, while the
women also are of more than average height, and gracefully made. What
the men lack in clothes they make up for in their head-dress, which has
been so often illustrated, and which is sometimes 5 feet in height. It
is the result of much care and trouble, and the cause of great pride to
the wearer. Ruled over by a number of small chiefs, they mostly own
Lewanika as their paramount chief, and to him they pay tribute. They are
withal a curious, wild kind of people, but are now becoming less afraid
of, and in consequence less hostile to, the white man, the first of
whose race they saw in 1888, when Mr. Selous[48] penetrated into their
country, and very nearly lost his life at their hands. Now they are
well-disposed, and it is safe to travel through their land with a
comparatively small escort.

Thirdly, the Batokas. These are, and always have been, a servile race.
They are lazy in disposition, for the most part of unprepossessing
appearance, and their country has the Kafue River on the east, and the
Zambesi on the south, as natural boundaries. As carriers they do fairly
well, and, while also owning L