The fugitive villagers remained only a few weeks with their new master Masiko, and then fled back again, and were received as if they had done nothing wrong.  All united in abusing the conduct of Sekobinyane, and no one condemned the fugitives; and the cattle, the use of which they had previously enjoyed, never having been removed from their village, they re-established themselves with apparent gladness.

This incident may give some idea of the serfdom of the subject tribes, and, except that they are sometimes punished for running away and other offenses, I can add nothing more by way of showing the true nature of this form of servitude.

Leaving Naliele, amid abundance of good wishes for the success of our expedition, and hopes that we might return accompanied with white traders, we began again our ascent of the river.  It was now beginning to rise, though the rains had but just commenced in the valley.  The banks are low, but cleanly cut, and seldom sloping.  At low water they are from four to eight feet high, and make the river always assume very much the aspect of a canal.  They are in some parts of whitish, tenacious clay, with strata of black clay intermixed, and black loam in sand, or pure sand stratified.  As the river rises it is always wearing to one side or the other, and is known to have cut across from one bend to another, and to form new channels.  As we coast along the shore, pieces which are undermined often fall in with a splash like that caused by the plunge of an alligator, and endanger the canoe.

These perpendicular banks afford building-places to a pretty bee-eater,* which loves to breed in society.  The face of the sand-bank is perforated with hundreds of holes leading to their nests, each of which is about a foot apart from the other; and as we pass they pour out of their hiding-places, and float overhead.

   * ‘Merops apiaster’ and ‘M. bullockoides’ (Smith).

A speckled kingfisher is seen nearly every hundred yards, which builds in similar spots, and attracts the attention of herd-boys, who dig out its nest for the sake of the young.  This, and a most lovely little blue and orange kingfisher, are seen every where along the banks, dashing down like a shot into the water for their prey.  A third, seen more rarely, is as large as a pigeon, and is of a slaty color.

Another inhabitant of the banks is the sand-martin, which also likes company in the work of raising a family.  They never leave this part of the country.  One may see them preening themselves in the very depth of winter, while the swallows, of which we shall yet speak, take winter trips.  I saw sand-martins at the Orange River during a period of winter frost; it is, therefore, probable that they do not migrate even from thence.

Around the reeds, which in some parts line the banks, we see fresh-water sponges.  They usually encircle the stalk, and are hard and brittle, presenting numbers of small round grains near their circumference.