ng but a wall of
reed on each bank, and we saw every prospect of spending a supperless
night in our float; but just as the short twilight of these parts was
commencing, we perceived on the north bank the village of Moremi, one of
the Makololo, whose acquaintance I had made on our former visit, and
who was now located on the island Mahonta (lat. 17d 58' S., long. 24d 6'
E.). The villagers looked as we may suppose people do who see a ghost,
and in their figurative way of speaking said, "He has dropped among
us from the clouds, yet came riding on the back of a hippopotamus! We
Makololo thought no one could cross the Chobe without our knowledge, but
here he drops among us like a bird."

Next day we returned in canoes across the flooded lands, and found that,
in our absence, the men had allowed the cattle to wander into a very
small patch of wood to the west containing the tsetse; this carelessness
cost me ten fine large oxen. After remaining a few days, some of the
head men of the Makololo came down from Linyanti, with a large party
of Barotse, to take us across the river. This they did in fine style,
swimming and diving among the oxen more like alligators than men, and
taking the wagons to pieces and carrying them across on a number of
canoes lashed together. We were now among friends; so going about thirty
miles to the north, in order to avoid the still flooded lands on the
north of the Chobe, we turned westward toward Linyanti (lat. 18d 17' 20"
S., long. 23d 50' 9" E.), where we arrived on the 23d of May, 1853. This
is the capital town of the Makololo, and only a short distance from our
wagon-stand of 1851 (lat. 18d 20' S., long. 23d 50' E.).

Chapter 9.

Reception at Linyanti--The court Herald--Sekeletu obtains the
Chieftainship from his Sister--Mpepe's Plot--Slave-trading Mambari
--Their sudden Flight--Sekeletu narrowly escapes Assassination--
Execution of Mpepe--The Courts of Law--Mode of trying Offenses--
Sekeletu's Reason for not learning to read the Bible--The Disposition
made of the Wives of a deceased Chief--Makololo Women--They work
but little--Employ Serfs--Their Drink, Dress, and Ornaments--Public
Religious Services in the Kotla--Unfavorable Associations of
the place--Native Doctors--Proposals to teach the Makololo to
read--Sekeletu's Present--Reason for accepting it--Trading in
Ivory--Accidental Fire--Presents for Sekeletu--Two Breeds of native
Cattle--Ornamenting the Cattle--The Women and the Lookin