Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa

D >> David Livingstone >> Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa


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 Looking-glass--Mode
of preparing the Skins of Oxen for Mantles and for Shields--Throwing
the Spear.



The whole population of Linyanti, numbering between six and seven
thousand souls, turned out en masse to see the wagons in motion. They
had never witnessed the phenomenon before, we having on the former
occasion departed by night. Sekeletu, now in power, received us in what
is considered royal style, setting before us a great number of pots of
boyaloa, the beer of the country. These were brought by women, and each
bearer takes a good draught of the beer when she sets it down, by way of
"tasting", to show that there is no poison.

The court herald, an old man who occupied the post also in Sebituane's
time, stood up, and after some antics, such as leaping, and shouting at
the top of his voice, roared out some adulatory sentences, as, "Don't I
see the white man? Don't I see the comrade of Sebituane? Don't I see the
father of Sekeletu?"--"We want sleep."--"Give your son sleep, my lord,"
etc., etc. The perquisites of this man are the heads of all the cattle
slaughtered by the chief, and he even takes a share of the tribute
before it is distributed and taken out of the kotla. He is expected to
utter all the proclamations, call assemblies, keep the kotla clean, and
the fire burning every evening, and when a person is executed in public
he drags away the body.

I found Sekeletu a young man of eighteen years of age, of that dark
yellow or coffee-and-milk color, of which the Makololo are so proud,
because it distinguishes them considerably from the black tribes on
the rivers. He is about five feet seven in height, and neither so
good looking nor of so much ability as his father was, but is equally
friendly to the English. Sebituane installed his daughter Mamochisane
into the chieftainship long before his death, but, with all his
acuteness, the idea of her having a husband who should not be her lord
did not seem to enter his mind. He wished to make her his successor,
probably in imitation of some of the negro tribes with whom he had come
into contact; but, being of the Bechuana race, he could not look upon
the husband except as the woman's lord; so he told her all the men
were hers--she might take any one, but ought to keep none. In fact, he
thought she might do with the men what he could do with the women; but
these men had other wives; and, according to a saying in the country,
"the tongues of women can not be governed," they made her miserable by
their remarks. One man whom she chose was even called her wife, and
her son the child of Mamochisane's wife; but the arrangement was so
distasteful to Mamochisane herself that, as soon as Sebituane died, she
said she never would consent to govern the Makololo so long as she had a
brother living. Sekeletu, being afraid of another member of the family,
Mpepe, who had pretensions to the chieftainship, urged his sister
strongly to remain as she had always been, and allow him to support her
authority by leading the Makololo when they went forth to war. Three
days were spent in public discussion on the point. Mpepe insinuated that
Sekeletu was not the lawful son of Sebituane, on account of his
mother having been the wife of another chief before her marriage with
Sebituane; Mamochisane, however, upheld Sekeletu's claims, and at last
stood up in the assembly and addressed him with a womanly gush of tears:
"I have been a chief only because my father wished it. I always would
have preferred to be married and have a family like other women. You,
Sekeletu, must be chief, and build up your father's house." This was a
death-blow to the hopes of Mpepe.

As it will enable the reader to understand the social and political
relations of these people, I will add a few more particulars respecting
Mpepe. Sebituane, having no son to take the leadership of the "Mopato"
of the age of his daughter, chose him, as the nearest male relative, to
occupy that post; and presuming from Mpepe's connection with his family
that he would attend to his interests and relieve him from care, he
handed his cattle over to his custody. Mpepe removed to the chief
town, "Naliele", and took such effectual charge of all the cattle that
Sebituane saw he could only set matters on their former footing by the
severe measure of Mpepe's execution. Being unwilling to do this, and
fearing the enchantments which, by means of a number of Barotse doctors,
Mpepe now used in a hut built for the purpose, and longing for peaceful
retirement after thirty years' fighting, he heard with pleasure of our
arrival at the lake, and came down as far as Sesheke to meet us. He had
an idea, picked up from some of the numerous strangers who visited him,
that white men had a "pot (a cannon) in their towns which would burn up
any attacking party;" and he thought if he could only get this he would
be able to "sleep" the remainder of his days in peace. This he hoped to
obtain from the white men. Hence the cry of the herald, "Give us sleep."
It is remarkable how anxious for peace those who have been fighting all
their lives appear to be.

When Sekeletu was installed in the chieftainship, he felt his position
rather insecure, for it was believed that the incantations of Mpepe had
an intimate connection with Sebituane's death. Indeed, the latter had
said to his son, "That hut of incantation will prove fatal to either you
or me."

When the Mambari, in 1850, took home a favorable report of this new
market to the west, a number of half-caste Portuguese slave-traders
were induced to come in 1853; and one, who resembled closely a real
Portuguese, came to Linyanti while I was there. This man had no
merchandise, and pretended to have come in order to inquire "what sort
of goods were necessary for the market." He seemed much disconcerted by
my presence there. Sekeletu presented him with an elephant's tusk and
an ox; and when he had departed about fifty miles to the westward,
he carried off an entire village of the Bakalahari belonging to the
Makololo. He had a number of armed slaves with him; and as all the
villagers--men, women, and children--were removed, and the fact was
unknown until a considerable time afterward, it is not certain whether
his object was obtained by violence or by fair promises. In either case,
slavery must have been the portion of these poor people. He was carried
in a hammock, slung between two poles, which appearing to be a bag, the
Makololo named him "Father of the Bag".

Mpepe favored these slave-traders, and they, as is usual with them,
founded all their hopes of influence on his successful rebellion. My
arrival on the scene was felt to be so much weight in the scale against
their interests. A large party of Mambari had come to Linyanti when I
was floundering on the prairies south of the Chobe. As the news of my
being in the neighborhood reached them their countenances fell; and when
some Makololo, who had assisted us to cross the river, returned
with hats which I had given them, the Mambari betook themselves to
precipitate flight. It is usual for visitors to ask formal permission
before attempting to leave a chief, but the sight of the hats made the
Mambari pack up at once. The Makololo inquired the cause of the hurry,
and were told that, if I found them there, I should take all their
slaves and goods from them; and, though assured by Sekeletu that I was
not a robber, but a man of peace, they fled by night, while I was still
sixty miles off. They went to the north, where, under the protection of
Mpepe, they had erected a stockade of considerable size. There, several
half-caste slave-traders, under the leadership of a native Portuguese,
carried on their traffic, without reference to the chief into whose
country they had unceremoniously introduced themselves; while Mpepe,
feeding them with the cattle of Sekeletu, formed a plan of raising
himself, by means of their fire-arms, to be the head of the Makololo.
The usual course which the slave-traders adopt is to take a part in the
political affairs of each tribe, and, siding with the strongest,
get well paid by captures made from the weaker party. Long secret
conferences were held by the slave-traders and Mpepe, and it was deemed
advisable for him to strike the first blow; so he provided himself with
a small battle-axe, with the intention of cutting Sekeletu down the
first time they met.

My object being first of all to examine the country for a healthy
locality, before attempting to make a path to either the East or West
Coast, I proposed to Sekeletu the plan of ascending the great river
which we had discovered in 1851. He volunteered to accompany me,
and, when we got about sixty miles away, on the road to Sesheke, we
encountered Mpepe. The Makololo, though possessing abundance of cattle,
had never attempted to ride oxen until I advised it in 1851. The
Bechuanas generally were in the same condition, until Europeans
came among them and imparted the idea of riding. All their journeys
previously were performed on foot. Sekeletu and his companions were
mounted on oxen, though, having neither saddle nor bridle, they were
perpetually falling off. Mpepe, armed with his little axe, came along
a path parallel to, but a quarter of a mile distant from, that of our
party, and, when he saw Sekeletu, he ran with all his might toward us;
but Sekeletu, being on his guard, galloped off to an adjacent village.
He then withdrew somewhere till all our party came up. Mpepe had given
his own party to understand that he would cut down Sekeletu, either on
their first meeting, or at the breaking up of their first conference.
The former intention having been thus frustrated, he then determined to
effect his purpose after their first interview. I happened to sit down
between the two in the hut where they met. Being tired with riding
all day in the sun, I soon asked Sekeletu where I should sleep, and he
replied, "Come, I will show you." As we rose together, I unconsciously
covered Sekeletu's body with mine, and saved him from the blow of the
assassin. I knew nothing of the plot, but remarked that all Mpepe's
men kept hold of their arms, even after we had sat down--a thing quite
unusual in the presence of a chief; and when Sekeletu showed me the hut
in which I was to spend the night, he said to me, "That man wishes
to kill me." I afterward learned that some of Mpepe's attendants had
divulged the secret; and, bearing in mind his father's instructions,
Sekeletu put Mpepe to death that night. It was managed so quietly, that,
although I was sleeping within a few yards of the scene, I knew nothing
of it till the next day. Nokuane went to the fire, at which Mpepe sat,
with a handful of snuff, as if he were about to sit down and regale
himself therewith. Mpepe said to him, "Nsepisa" (cause me to take a
pinch); and, as he held out his hand, Nokuane caught hold of it, while
another man seized the other hand, and, leading him out a mile, speared
him. This is the common mode of executing criminals. They are not
allowed to speak; though on one occasion a man, feeling his wrist held
too tightly, said, "Hold me gently, can't you? you will soon be led out
in the same way yourselves." Mpepe's men fled to the Barotse, and,
it being unadvisable for us to go thither during the commotion which
followed on Mpepe's death, we returned to Linyanti.

The foregoing may be considered as a characteristic specimen of their
mode of dealing with grave political offenses. In common cases there
is a greater show of deliberation. The complainant asks the man against
whom he means to lodge his complaint to come with him to the chief. This
is never refused. When both are in the kotla, the complainant stands
up and states the whole case before the chief and the people usually
assembled there. He stands a few seconds after he has done this, to
recollect if he has forgotten any thing. The witnesses to whom he has
referred then rise up and tell all they themselves have seen or heard,
but not any thing that they have heard from others. The defendant, after
allowing some minutes to elapse so that he may not interrupt any of the
opposite party, slowly rises, folds his cloak around him, and, in the
most quiet, deliberate way he can assume--yawning, blowing his nose,
etc.--begins to explain the affair, denying the charge, or admitting
it, as the case may be. Sometimes, when galled by his remarks, the
complainant utters a sentence of dissent; the accused turns quietly to
him, and says, "Be silent: I sat still while you were speaking; can't
you do the same? Do you want to have it all to yourself?" And as the
audience acquiesce in this bantering, and enforce silence, he goes on
till he has finished all he wishes to say in his defense. If he has
any witnesses to the truth of the facts of his defense, they give their
evidence. No oath is administered; but occasionally, when a statement is
questioned, a man will say, "By my father," or "By the chief, it is
so." Their truthfulness among each other is quite remarkable; but their
system of government is such that Europeans are not in a position to
realize it readily. A poor man will say, in his defense against a
rich one, "I am astonished to hear a man so great as he make a false
accusation;" as if the offense of falsehood were felt to be one against
the society which the individual referred to had the greatest interest
in upholding.

If the case is one of no importance, the chief decides it at once; if
frivolous, he may give the complainant a scolding, and put a stop to the
case in the middle of the complaint, or he may allow it to go on without
paying any attention to it whatever. Family quarrels are often treated
in this way, and then a man may be seen stating his case with great
fluency, and not a soul listening to him. But if it is a case between
influential men, or brought on by under-chiefs, then the greatest
decorum prevails. If the chief does not see his way clearly to a
decision, he remains silent; the elders then rise one by one and give
their opinions, often in the way of advice rather than as decisions;
and when the chief finds the general sentiment agreeing in one view, he
delivers his judgment accordingly. He alone speaks sitting; all others
stand.

No one refuses to acquiesce in the decision of the chief, as he has the
power of life and death in his hands, and can enforce the law to
that extent if he chooses; but grumbling is allowed, and, when marked
favoritism is shown to any relative of the chief, the people generally
are not so astonished at the partiality as we would be in England.

This system was found as well developed among the Makololo as among
the Bakwains, or even better, and is no foreign importation. When at
Cassange, my men had a slight quarrel among themselves, and came to me,
as to their chief, for judgment. This had occurred several times before,
so without a thought I went out of the Portuguese merchant's house in
which I was a guest, sat down, and heard the complaint and defense in
the usual way. When I had given my decision in the common admonitory
form, they went off apparently satisfied. Several Portuguese, who had
been viewing the proceedings with great interest, complimented me on the
success of my teaching them how to act in litigation; but I could not
take any credit to myself for the system which I had found ready-made to
my hands.

Soon after our arrival at Linyanti, Sekeletu took me aside, and pressed
me to mention those things I liked best and hoped to get from him. Any
thing, either in or out of his town, should be freely given if I would
only mention it. I explained to him that my object was to elevate him
and his people to be Christians; but he replied he did not wish to learn
to read the Book, for he was afraid "it might change his heart, and make
him content with only one wife, like Sechele." It was of little use to
urge that the change of heart implied a contentment with one wife equal
to his present complacency in polygamy. Such a preference after the
change of mind could not now be understood by him any more than the
real, unmistakable pleasure of religious services can by those who have
not experienced what is known by the term the "new heart". I assured him
that nothing was expected but by his own voluntary decision. "No, no;
he wanted always to have five wives at least." I liked the frankness of
Sekeletu, for nothing is so wearying to the spirit as talking to those
who agree with every thing advanced.

Sekeletu, according to the system of the Bechuanas, became possessor of
his father's wives, and adopted two of them; the children by these women
are, however, in these cases, termed brothers. When an elder brother
dies, the same thing occurs in respect of his wives; the brother next in
age takes them, as among the Jews, and the children that may be born
of those women he calls brothers also. He thus raises up seed to his
departed relative. An uncle of Sekeletu, being a younger brother of
Sebituane, got that chieftain's head-wife or queen: there is always
one who enjoys this title. Her hut is called the great house, and her
children inherit the chieftainship. If she dies, a new wife is selected
for the same position, and enjoys the same privileges, though she may
happen to be a much younger woman than the rest.

The majority of the wives of Sebituane were given to influential
under-chiefs; and, in reference to their early casting off the widow's
weeds, a song was sung, the tenor of which was that the men alone felt
the loss of their father Sebituane, the women were so soon supplied with
new husbands that their hearts had not time to become sore with grief.

The women complain because the proportions between the sexes are so
changed now that they are not valued as they deserve. The majority of
the real Makololo have been cut off by fever. Those who remain are
a mere fragment of the people who came to the north with Sebituane.
Migrating from a very healthy climate in the south, they were more
subject to the febrile diseases of the valley in which we found them
than the black tribes they conquered. In comparison with the Barotse,
Batoka, and Banyeti, the Makololo have a sickly hue. They are of a light
brownish-yellow color, while the tribes referred to are very dark, with
a slight tinge of olive. The whole of the colored tribes consider that
beauty and fairness are associated, and women long for children of light
color so much, that they sometimes chew the bark of a certain tree in
hopes of producing that effect. To my eye the dark color is much more
agreeable than the tawny hue of the half-caste, which that of the
Makololo ladies closely resembles. The women generally escaped the
fever, but they are less fruitful than formerly, and, to their complaint
of being undervalued on account of the disproportion of the sexes, they
now add their regrets at the want of children, of whom they are all
excessively fond.

The Makololo women work but little. Indeed, the families of that nation
are spread over the country, one or two only in each village, as
the lords of the land. They all have lordship over great numbers of
subjected tribes, who pass by the general name Makalaka, and who are
forced to render certain services, and to aid in tilling the soil; but
each has his own land under cultivation, and otherwise lives nearly
independent. They are proud to be called Makololo, but the other term
is often used in reproach, as betokening inferiority. This species of
servitude may be termed serfdom, as it has to be rendered in consequence
of subjection by force of arms, but it is necessarily very mild. It is
so easy for any one who is unkindly treated to make his escape to
other tribes, that the Makololo are compelled to treat them, to a great
extent, rather as children than slaves. Some masters, who fail from
defect of temper or disposition to secure the affections of the
conquered people, frequently find themselves left without a single
servant, in consequence of the absence and impossibility of enforcing
a fugitive-slave law, and the readiness with which those who are
themselves subjected assist the fugitives across the rivers in canoes.
The Makololo ladies are liberal in their presents of milk and other
food, and seldom require to labor, except in the way of beautifying
their own huts and court-yards. They drink large quantities of boyaloa
or o-alo, the buza of the Arabs, which, being made of the grain called
holcus sorghum or "durasaifi", in a minute state of subdivision, is
very nutritious, and gives that plumpness of form which is considered
beautiful. They dislike being seen at their potations by persons of the
opposite sex. They cut their woolly hair quite short, and delight in
having the whole person shining with butter. Their dress is a kilt
reaching to the knees; its material is ox-hide, made as soft as cloth.
It is not ungraceful. A soft skin mantle is thrown across the shoulders
when the lady is unemployed, but when engaged in any sort of labor
she throws this aside, and works in the kilt alone. The ornaments most
coveted are large brass anklets as thick as the little finger, and
armlets of both brass and ivory, the latter often an inch broad. The
rings are so heavy that the ankles are often blistered by the weight
pressing down; but it is the fashion, and is borne as magnanimously as
tight lacing and tight shoes among ourselves. Strings of beads are hung
around the neck, and the fashionable colors being light green and pink,
a trader could get almost any thing he chose for beads of these colors.

At our public religious services in the kotla, the Makololo women always
behaved with decorum from the first, except at the conclusion of
the prayer. When all knelt down, many of those who had children, in
following the example of the rest, bent over their little ones; the
children, in terror of being crushed to death, set up a simultaneous
yell, which so tickled the whole assembly there was often a subdued
titter, to be turned into a hearty laugh as soon as they heard Amen.
This was not so difficult to overcome in them as similar peccadilloes
were in the case of the women farther south. Long after we had settled
at Mabotsa, when preaching on the most solemn subjects, a woman might be
observed to look round, and, seeing a neighbor seated on her dress, give
her a hunch with the elbow to make her move off; the other would return
it with interest, and perhaps the remark, "Take the nasty thing away,
will you?" Then three or four would begin to hustle the first offenders,
and the men to swear at them all, by way of enforcing silence.

Great numbers of little trifling things like these occur, and would
not be worth the mention but that one can not form a correct idea of
missionary work except by examination of the minutiae. At the risk
of appearing frivolous to some, I shall continue to descend to mere
trifles.

The numbers who attended at the summons of the herald, who acted as
beadle, were often from five to seven hundred. The service consisted of
reading a small portion of the Bible and giving an explanatory address,
usually short enough to prevent weariness or want of attention. So long
as we continue to hold services in the kotla, the associations of the
place are unfavorable to solemnity; hence it is always desirable to have
a place of worship as soon as possible; and it is of importance, too,
to treat such place with reverence, as an aid to secure that serious
attention which religious subjects demand. This will appear more evident
when it is recollected that, in the very spot where we had been engaged
in acts of devotion, half an hour after a dance would be got up; and
these habits can not be at first opposed without the appearance of
assuming too much authority over them. It is always unwise to hurt
their feelings of independence. Much greater influence will be gained by
studying how you may induce them to act aright, with the impression
that they are doing it of their own free will. Our services having
necessarily been all in the open air, where it is most difficult to
address large bodies of people, prevented my recovering so entirely from
the effects of clergyman's sore throat as I expected, when my uvula was
excised at the Cape.