Amongst other visitors on the 12th was a Masupia, a grey-headed little man, who prided himself upon having served under the late king Sekeletu, during whose reign the Makololo empire had been annihilated.
Various commodities were brought over to me from Impalera with the hope that I might purchase them, and I bought a goat for about four yards of calico; the creature was wretchedly thin, having suffered from the stings of the tsetse-fly. It was no sooner slaughtered than I found my mulekow acquaintance sidling up to me; he evidently expected a portion of it as a present, and considered that he had an unquestionable right to visit me as often as he chose at meal-times.
During this day and the following about forty of the Masupias started off in detachments to the Leshumo valley to fetch Blockley’s goods, and to take him the corn he had ordered. The corn was packed in gourd-vessels containing about half a peck each, slung upon poles, the gourd-shells being covered with bast, and tied on with the same material.
Utilized by all the South African tribes, gourd-shells are nowhere put to more various uses than in the Marutse district. By the Mabunda tribe they are branded with ornamental devices of men and animals, and nearly everywhere they are employed for carrying water, being frequently covered with a network of leather; but the vassal tribes of the Bechuanas, the Makalaharis, Barwas, Masarwas, and Madenassanas, not practising agriculture, use ostrich eggs instead. Most of the Bantu tribes preserve fatty substances in the medium-sized gourd-shells, and south of the Zambesi the very small shells are made into snuff-boxes, and some of a flattened cylindrical form are converted into musical instruments.
On the 13th I was joined by a Basuto named April, who had been travelling with Blockley, and was now on his way to get permission from Sepopo to hunt elephants on his territory. He had come in company with eighteen of the Masupias who were returning with Blockley’s merchandise, each man carrying a load of about 60 lbs. They brought word that probably Blockley himself would arrive in the evening, but he did not appear.
That night, for the first time, I heard the deep grunt of the hippopotamus.
In the course of a walk down the river-side next morning I came to some deserted farms of the Masupias, who had fled to the opposite shore after the destruction of the Manansa kingdom, and in several places along the valley I saw the graves of some Masupia chiefs. These graves were mere oval mounds, covered with antelope-skulls and elephant-tusks, so arranged that the points protruded and bent downwards; some were bleached and cracked by exposure, but the smaller ones, weighing about 20 lbs., near the centre of the graves, were generally in a better state of preservation; those which had been deposited most recently were only milk-teeth, and consequently worthless; in all probability they had been placed there since the Marutse had become better acquainted with the value of ivory, so that the deeds of reverence for the departed had not defrauded the rulers of any portion of their revenue. As I returned I passed several sycamores growing on the bank, their stems as well as their branches thickly covered with figs, none of which, however, were yet ripe.
Blockley arrived in the afternoon. He gave each of his bearers a quarter of a pound of beads as payment for their services, but the Masupias rejected all the red beads, refusing to take any but the dark blue. They wanted them, they said, to purchase assegais, and the tribe from which they bought them insisted on having blue beads and no other.
The embarkation of the bearers on their return was an interesting scene. Their canoes, about twenty in number, had been waiting for them in the creek, and late in the afternoon they all pushed off to the opposite shore. They were very slim, varying in length from seven to sixteen feet, and manned by one, two, three, or four men, according to their size. A few of them had to carry back the empty shells that had contained the corn, several were full of firewood, and some conveyed various pieces of the carcase of a great buffalo-cow that had just been killed. The last to leave were my mulekow friend and four others. They were in a large canoe, while he, anxious to display his skill in paddling, had his canoe to himself. He made a great effort to outstrip the others, who did not feel inclined to be left in the rear. He had succeeded in getting a good start, but just as he reached the middle of the stream, the wind caught the folds of his kubu (mantle), and getting entangled by it his movements were obstructed, and he was easily beaten. It was his vanity that had brought about his defeat. He had sold me a couple of hatchets for seven yards of calico, and had made Pit cut him out a garment, which he insisted should use up the whole of it.
Without loss of time Blockley crossed on the 15th, but I was obliged to remain where I was until I heard from the king. I roved about in all directions, and discovered some warm salt springs, and I likewise added to my collection some fish that the Masupias had speared in the creek. Just as I had done on the Limpopo, I stood and watched the crocodiles raise their heads above the water, and snap at the kingfishers and water-birds on the bushes and reeds.