Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 1,077 pages of information about Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa.

Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 1,077 pages of information about Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa.

The young, when very little, take their stand on the neck of the dam, and the small head, rising above the large, comes soonest to the surface.  The dam, knowing the more urgent need of her calf, comes more frequently to the surface when it is in her care.  But in the rivers of Londa, where they are much in danger of being shot, even the hippopotamus gains wit by experience; for, while those in the Zambesi put up their heads openly to blow, those referred to keep their noses among water-plants, and breathe so quietly that one would not dream of their existence in the river except by footprints on the banks.

Chapter 14.

Increasing Beauty of the Country—­Mode of spending the Day—­The People and the Falls of Gonye—­A Makololo Foray—­A second prevented, and Captives delivered up—­Politeness and Liberality of the People—­ The Rains—­Present of Oxen—­The fugitive Barotse—­Sekobinyane’s Misgovernment—­Bee-eaters and other Birds—­Fresh-water Sponges—­Current—­Death from a Lion’s Bite at Libonta—­Continued Kindness—­Arrangements for spending the Night during the Journey—­Cooking and Washing—­Abundance of animal Life—­Different Species of Birds—­Water-fowl—­Egyptian Geese—­Alligators—­Narrow Escape of one of my Men—­Superstitious Feelings respecting the Alligator—­Large Game—­The most vulnerable Spot—­Gun Medicine—­A Sunday—­Birds of Song—­Depravity; its Treatment—­Wild Fruits—­Green Pigeons—­Shoals of Fish—­Hippopotami.

30Th of November, 1853.  At Gonye Falls.  No rain has fallen here, so it is excessively hot.  The trees have put on their gayest dress, and many flowers adorn the landscape, yet the heat makes all the leaves droop at midday and look languid for want of rain.  If the country increases as much in beauty in front as it has done within the last four degrees of latitude, it will be indeed a lovely land.

We all felt great lassitude in traveling.  The atmosphere is oppressive both in cloud and sunshine.  The evaporation from the river must be excessively great, and I feel as if the fluids of the system joined in the general motion of watery vapor upward, as enormous quantities of water must be drunk to supply its place.

When under way our usual procedure is this:  We get up a little before five in the morning; it is then beginning to dawn.  While I am dressing, coffee is made; and, having filled my pannikin, the remainder is handed to my companions, who eagerly partake of the refreshing beverage.  The servants are busy loading the canoes, while the principal men are sipping the coffee, and, that being soon over, we embark.  The next two hours are the most pleasant part of the day’s sail.  The men paddle away most vigorously; the Barotse, being a tribe of boatmen, have large, deeply-developed chests and shoulders, with indifferent lower extremities.  They often engage in loud scolding of each other in order to relieve the tedium of their work.  About eleven we land, and eat any meat which may have remained from the previous evening meal, or a biscuit with honey, and drink water.

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Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.