Page 187.
AQUATIC LIFE IN A STILL POOL BY THE ZAMBESI.
Equally fascinating was the exhibition of animal life. In the more open spaces where the range of vision was widest lay some dark-striped fish not unlike perch, perfectly motionless except for the slight vibration of the hinder fins; from the dim recesses of the algæ, bearded sheat-fish would emerge, generally in pairs, and sometimes side by side, sometimes one behind the other, would roll themselves in sport from side to side; and far away right across the reeds by the opposite bank stretched itself as though lifeless a yellow-mottled object, that might at first have been mistaken for a snake, but which on further scrutiny turned out to be a water-lizard biding its time to secure its prey.
Nor were the lower orders of creation less fully represented. Water-beetles and water-spiders abounded; the beetles were species of dytiscus and hydrophilus; the spiders were all activity, some towing themselves up, some with glistening air-bubbles letting themselves descend, and hastening to conceal themselves amidst the intricacies and entanglements of the algæ. The larvæ of the beetles as well as of the dragon-flies were clambering over the filaments of the plants and the stems of the lilies like rope-dancers, whilst the pupæ of the shore-flies were slowly emerging from their mummy-like cases.
The variety of the scene was infinite, and made one loth to turn away.
We went on the next morning across a great many small streams, the valleys of which were covered with deep dark soil and generally much overgrown; the streams appeared to flow in various directions, south, south-east, south-west, but the whole of them, I imagine, ultimately found their way into the Panda ma Tenka. The valleys were divided from one another either by rocky hills or sandy woods. We saw traces of koodoos, steinbocks, waterbocks, bushvaarks, and of a great many elephants. In the after part of the day we came to a forest in a somewhat more extensive valley, with side-valleys opening into it on either hand. We made our camp for the night close to a perpetual stream, that received the waters both of the main valley and its branches, and was called the Matopa river by the Manansas who formerly lived there. For three-quarters of its course it is a mountain-torrent not more than twenty feet wide and from three to four feet in depth, but towards its mouth, which is below the Victoria Falls, its width materially increases.
On the following morning (September 7th) we left our encampment betimes, in order to reach the falls the same day. All day long and throughout the remainder of the trip, I had to get along in great discomfort. In making provision for my longer journey I had reserved all my good boots, and for immediate use had bought a pair of shoes from a trader at Panda ma Tenka, but after two days wear they fell to pieces, and I was obliged to fasten the fragments together by straps bound round my feet, while, as if to make the difficulty more trying, the road became extremely rough and thorny, and the rocks were heated by the glowing sun.
Arriving at a point where the Matopa valley took a sudden turn to the east, I became conscious of a dull heavy noise, as it might be the rumbling of distant thunder. I was considerably in advance of the others, as the condition of my feet induced me to get a good way forward every now and then, so that I might have the benefit of a rest. Being alone I had no one to explain the cause of the noise, but I was not long in satisfying myself that it must be the roar of the famous cataract. Several times, and in places where the passage was difficult, the Matopa had to be crossed, but in spite of my suffering I kept pushing on ahead, buoyed up by the prospect of a long rest afterwards. I noticed some zebras running on the declivity of the left hand shore in the direction of the cloud of vapour which I could now distinctly see, and I came to the conclusion that it would be well to follow them; they made for a wooded glen leading to the valley, and though of course I could not overtake them I kept to their track. The farther I went the more painful my feet became, until at last I took off the soles of my shoes altogether and made my way barefoot. All day long I had taken no food, and at four o’clock, after forcing my way through a dense thicket, I began to feel very faint. By another effort I mounted a hill, and scrambled through another thicket, when all at once I found myself on the brink of the abyss, into which the seething waters were rolling with a tremendous plunge. The impression of that scene can never be effaced!
But glorious as was the spectacle, bodily exhaustion made me retire from contemplating it. Crawling rather than walking, clinging to bush after bush to save myself from falling, I made my way along the river-bank in search of some wild fruit to sustain me. I had not gone far before I spied out a fruit hanging down from a half-withered stem. I threw up some stones and brought it down, and sure that its thin yellow shell covered a sweet fleshy pulp, I greedily swallowed it, when all at once it occurred to me that the seeds bore a great resemblance to nux vomica; my fear was only too well founded, in a very few minutes I was seized with a most violent sickness, and sunk powerless and prostrate to the ground. It was some time before I could rouse myself sufficiently to creep to the bank of the Zambesi, where I took a large draught of the clear water, which revived me very considerably. To attract the attention of my friends I fired off several shots, but receiving no response had to resign myself to wait awhile.
After about half an hour I felt so far recovered that I ventured to make a move, and had hardly proceeded more than fifty yards when I saw one of our party coming in my direction. We returned together, and before night set in we had chosen our position beneath three wide-spreading trees, rather more than a quarter of a mile from the river, and about half a mile from the falls, and proceeded to erect our “skerms.”