27 chapters
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27 chapters
Preface.
Preface.
My object in writing this work is to add another page to the physical geography of Africa. That region selected for my explorations has hitherto been a terra incognita in all maps relating to this dark continent. The field of my labour has been South Central Africa, north of the Cape Colony, up to the Congo region, comprising an area of 2,000,000 square miles; in length, from north to south, 1100 miles, and from east to west—that is, from the Indian to the South Atlantic Ocean—1800 miles, which
33 minute read
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Chapter One.
Chapter One.
Twenty-five years ago!—a quarter of a century ! What changes have come over South Africa in that time! Natal was little-known and scarcely heard of in England. The white population did not exceed one-half its present number of 30,000, and the greater part was overrun by Kaffirs, who were Zulus, similar to those of Zululand. Game of various kinds in plenty, lions were common, elephants, buffaloes, elands, wildebeests, quagga, and other antelopes, were numerous on the plains and long flats; leopar
56 minute read
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Chapter Two.
Chapter Two.
The tribe was afterwards hunted for two months in these mountains by volunteers only, and captured with their chief, Langalibalele, who was sent to the Cape, and kept more comfortably than he ever was in his life, in a nice house and grounds, with entire freedom to move about, his only grievance being that he was not allowed more than three of his wives, the cause of this distressing privation being simply that the balance would not come. An absurd proposition was sent out by the Home Government
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Chapter Three.
Chapter Three.
Nearly every day we had thunderstorms, coming on in the afternoon, lasting nearly two hours, but not quite so violent as the one described, though severe enough, in their passage over, to make us glad when they had left us, as the lightning is most destructive and dangerous. We had a very narrow escape on our return journey from Maritzburg. We were treking past Doornkop, a lofty hill on the left of the road. A thunderstorm was gathering; consequently, anxious to outspan before it burst upon us,
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Chapter Four.
Chapter Four.
The river is about 150 yards broad when it is flooded, the water rises in the narrow parts from thirty and sometimes fifty feet in height, entirely submerging the tall trees growing on the banks; at these times the water is composed of one-third mud, but when low, as it is now, it is very clear; so much so, that I have frequently seen the iguana walking on its bed at a depth of five feet; some of them grow to a great size. I found three kinds, the very dark brown, the largest, measuring from hea
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Chapter Five.
Chapter Five.
Diamond-digging first commenced in the latter end of 1869 at Hebron, on the Vaal river; then at Klip Drift early in 1870, now called Barkly, and on the opposite side of the river Pniel, where large camps were formed employing many thousand people at each place, all living under canvas. Then prospecting parties went down the river, forming large camps at Delporthope, Esterhanger, Blue Jacket, Forlorn Hope, Keisikamma, Union Coppie, Gong Gong, Webster’s Kops, Waldeck, Plant, and down the river fro
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Chapter Six.
Chapter Six.
The interior of their huts and yards outside where they cook, which are surrounded by a high fence made of sticks, are kept remarkably clean and tidy, and their iron utensils also receive their share of attention. Many of these Bechuanas are rich in cattle, sheep, and goats. They have their cattle-posts away in the bush, where the stock is looked after, cows milked, and once or twice a week a pack-ox is loaded up with skins of milk and taken to the kraal for use. These “vieh-posts” are in charge
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Chapter Seven.
Chapter Seven.
The black eagle is more frequently seen here than in any other part of Africa, in consequence, I suppose, of food being plentiful. I shot one out of four that settled near my waggon one afternoon, when my driver was skinning a wolf he had shot. When sitting on the ground it measured two feet four inches to the shoulder, and its wings from tip to tip nine feet five inches. Two years ago I shot a white eagle; the wings measured nearly ten feet. I tried to preserve them, but did not succeed. All ki
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Chapter Eight.
Chapter Eight.
Leaving Moselekatze Kop, going to Kanya, the road turns west, then north-west for thirteen miles, to a deep and stony watercourse, that comes down from the mountain two miles distant, which is a branch of the river Tans and Sand, into the Notuane. Many picturesque sandstone hills of every variety of form, covered with rich subtropical vegetation to their summits, with gigantic rocks peeping out between the bushes, give a peculiar feature to the landscape. Some of the finest tree-aloes grow here
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Chapter Nine.
Chapter Nine.
The Bechuanas have another method of catching game by pitfalls—at least many years ago it was in use, where instead of securing one, they trapped hundreds at one time. In those extensive open plains, where tens of thousands of the antelope species roam, a favourable spot would be selected, and from eight to twelve large pits dug, ranged in a row fifteen feet apart, the earth taken out to the depth of five feet, and thrown up between them, forming a steep bank; at the bottom of this pit, it would
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Chapter Ten.
Chapter Ten.
The people at one time were very unruly and troublesome to travellers. In 1868 I was at the station when a trader came in with some brandy; we outspanned close together outside the town. The next day the traders at the station, and there were some fourteen, indulged too much; one in particular had so far forgotten himself as to take a leg of pork to the kotla or council enclosure, where the chief Machin was sitting with his councillors, and held the leg of pork in the chief’s face, and asked if
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Chapter Eleven.
Chapter Eleven.
The natives have many canoes and are great fishermen, using a kind of harpoon for the larger fish. The Mambo natives are very expert in this sport and lay traps for them. Bows and arrows and spears are the general weapons used, but many guns have been introduced into the country of late years. The arrows are poisoned with the seed of a plant that is a runner, very large, the petals long, flowers yellow, from which the poison is extracted. I met with several of the Wayeiye natives on the Tonga, w
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Chapter Twelve.
Chapter Twelve.
The great watershed passes through, taking a diagonal course from the south-east corner to the north-west corner in Ovampoland. The greatest altitude above sea-level being 6100 feet, near the source of the Molapo, the lowest along the shed is 4000 feet, and in Ovampoland 3880 feet. The river system of South Central Africa has already been described in a chapter to itself, so that the configuration of the country should be more clearly understood; but it is necessary to deal with them again to a
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Chapter Thirteen.
Chapter Thirteen.
Wood is plentiful in the kloofs and on the river-banks, where the water is procured. The larger game is found in the north-east corner, but has become very wild from constant hunting by the various tribes. The lofty hills are of granite formation and sand. The Bastards cultivate the land in favourable localities, plough, and have large herds of cattle, and carry on a good trade with the colony. They are hospitable and peaceable; each wherf has its head-man, with several cattle and vieh-posts att
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Chapter Fourteen.
Chapter Fourteen.
In the latter part of 1879 the country was in a lawless state. The Gobabis have been robbing waggons; the Gobabis are Hottentots. They robbed a Boer, one Van Zyl, of all he had, and he had to fly with one of his sons, leaving his wife and another woman with seven waggons, with horses, oxen, guns and ammunition in the hands of the Gobabis, who had taken all except the two women. Van Zyl went to Mr Palgrave, the Commissioner, for help, to get his wife and waggons from the Gobabis Hottentots, but M
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Chapter Fifteen.
Chapter Fifteen.
There are many fine euphorbia, aloes, acacias, mimosas, kameel-doorns, maparri trees, ningano, lotus, and palms, which give a novel appearance to the scenery to a northern eye. On nearing the Cubango we fell in with many herds of buffaloes. We shot two, but had a very narrow escape. A dense bush surrounded us, which enabled us to escape, with great difficulty. The next day I found a tree bearing yellow fruit similar to an orange, with a kernel in the centre, rather pleasant flavour, very similar
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Chapter Sixteen.
Chapter Sixteen.
The other rivers in the northern division, and within the Limpopo basin, are the Crocodile, with its many tributaries, rising in the Drakensberg or Quathlamba range, and, passing through the Lobombo mountain, receives the Umcomasi, Sabie, and other small streams, and enters the northern part of Delagoa Bay. The Umbelosi drains the country south of the Komati, and passing through the Lobombo range, enters Delagoa Bay, or inner harbour at Lozrenzo Marques; it is navigable from the bay some few mil
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Chapter Seventeen.
Chapter Seventeen.
After the battle of Boomplaats the rebel Boers crossed the Vaal, treked to Marico in 1850, where some of them are now occupying the land they laid out for themselves; and they still foster hatred against the English, and since this last rebellion it has greatly increased in intensity, and nothing but a strong Government and an influx of British emigrants will allay, or partly extinguish, that feeling, which their present isolated position is conducive to foster, and teach them to understand, as
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Chapter Eighteen.
Chapter Eighteen.
There are many extensive and valuable farms in the Marico district. Oranges, lemons, pomegranates, and all English fruit grow to perfection. Peaches are so plentiful that I have frequently fed the pigs with them. I am writing of the country twenty years ago, when not one-fourth of the population lived in the country that are now occupying the land. There was no town then; Zeerust, Jacobsdale, Lichtenberg, were not thought of. There were five Boers who possessed all the land round the country, an
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Chapter Nineteen.
Chapter Nineteen.
It was on one of these evening rambles in the noble forest that I was an eye-witness to a very rare and singular sight, and which, I believe, few explorers have ever witnessed. Wandering on where the openings in the bushes allowed free access between the thick vegetation, admiring the splendid picture of vegetable life, I caught the sound of loud, deep, bass voices not so very far away, which appeared to be coming nearer. As I was under one of those splendid baobab trees, quite in shadow, I dete
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Chapter Twenty.
Chapter Twenty.
The principal tributaries on the west and north are the Eland, Great Marico, Notuane, Makalapsie, Setuane, Serube, Pakwe, Maclutsie, Shasha, Makhae, Kubie, and the Nuanettie, and their several branches, which drain the country on the eastern side of the two watersheds. The Great Marico, with its branches of Little Marico and Molmane, drains a considerable extent of country in the Marico and Molmane district, and a large portion of Bechuanaland under the chiefs Gaseitsive, Sechele, Makose, and Li
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Chapter Twenty One.
Chapter Twenty One.
It was a beautiful sight to see; the others leaping and bounding away, swaying their long necks from side to side, until lost in the bush. But we had no time to look after them; our attention was drawn to the one we had shot. After regaining his feet and attempting to follow the others, he only staggered a short distance, and then fell dead; a noble corpse, and a noble bag. After our excitement was a little subsided, it was necessary to consider how we were to get such a huge beast to the waggon
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Chapter Twenty Two.
Chapter Twenty Two.
The climate is healthy away from the coast region, and water is plentiful; and, if in our hands, the land would support millions where it now keeps alive thousands of natives; and as a region for the cultivation of the cotton-plant it is the finest I may say in the world, for the cotton, which is indigenous without any cultivation, is superior to the cultivated cotton grown in America. Twenty-five thousand square miles of ground could with little trouble and expense produce as much as the Britis
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Chapter Twenty Three.
Chapter Twenty Three.
Wednesday, I went in the morning, with Mr and Mrs Sykes, Mr and Mrs Coillard and her sister, who seems to be about twenty, to the king’s kraal, to see the soldiers reviewed by the king, in the open space between the town huts and the king’s enclosure. It was a novel sight, and one seen in no other part of the world. The regiments formed an immense circle, eight and ten deep; there appeared to be about 4000, all dressed in their war dress similar to those of yesterday. Each regiment contains abou
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Chapter Twenty Four.
Chapter Twenty Four.
South of the Banyai country is the Batoka, in which is the Moltkaberg, watered by the Upa river, a tributary of the Luenya. The source of the Mazoe rises on the watershed in this region, at the Sakaloko kraal, in 18 degrees 0 minutes South latitude. Another spring issues close to Mebka kraal, and at Gangwesi kraal, at an elevation of 4210 feet above the sea, and flows north, on which there are many villages, close to several large vleis, and towards the east is the large kraal of the chief Makom
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Chapter Twenty Five.
Chapter Twenty Five.
South of South Central Africa, which has comprised my field, of exploration, is the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope, which takes in the whole of the southern peninsula of the African continent, from the Orange river to Cape Agulhas, and extends towards the east as far as Natal. It is divided into the eastern and western provinces and Griqualand West. Cape Town is the seat of Government and the capital, and is governed by a High Commissioner and Governor, a Ministry and Legislative Council, and a
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Chapter Twenty Six.
Chapter Twenty Six.
Many extensive forests in the colony, near the town of Clanwilliam, Outenigera, Zitzikamma; there is also the Adda bush, dense bush along the Amatola mountains, Kat river, and the Knysna. To the eastward we find the Kadoun forest, extending nearly eighty miles in length along the sea, and some fifteen miles in width. Deep extensive kloofs along the mountain ranges are well-timbered. The Great Fish river bush is very extensive, and many others along the Buffalo mountain, Katberg, Chumie, and Bosc
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