MASHUKULUMBE AT THE COURT OF KING SEPOPO.
The Mashukulumbe, Sepopo informed me, were the people who lived to the north and east of his territory; and the men who had now arrived were ambassadors who were sent every year to the Marutse court with complimentary presents, and who would go back in a few weeks carrying other presents in return. When at home they go perfectly naked, the women wearing nothing but a little leather strap, hung with bells and fastened round their waists. Their pride is their coiffure, which consists of a conical chignon that fits tight round the head, and is composed of vertical rolls or horizontal tiers, the tresses being most ingeniously plaited together, sometimes crossing and recrossing each other, sometimes kept quite parallel; the whole being finally matted together with gum, which gives it the appearance of really growing from the crown of the head. But this is by no means the case; the hair that is periodically shaved off the entire body, except from the patch of ten or twelve inches in circumference on the head, is all carefully preserved until enough has been accumulated for the headgear; and the master of the house will not unfrequently add the hair of his wives and slaves, twisting it up into bands that are intertwined with his own. I saw a coiffure twelve inches round, worked into a tail more than a yard long that inclined towards the right shoulder; so that every time the man moved, and especially when he stooped, the headdress appeared to be toppling over with him. The average height to which the hair was trained was about ten inches; but in all cases the unusual weight upon the skull had the effect of developing the muscles of the temples till they stood out like cords, not unfrequently as thick as one’s finger. The falling in of the top lip was caused by extracting the upper incisor-teeth, an operation with the Mashukulumbe that corresponds with the boguera of the Bechuanas, and is practised upon youths when attaining the state of manhood, being part of their discipline. One of the Makalaka tribes north of the Zambesi, as well as the Matongas on its bank, break out their top incisor-teeth from the sheerest vanity. Their women say that it is only horses that eat with all their teeth, and that men ought not to eat like horses.
With the help of his attendants, the king was engaged in manufacturing a musical instrument out of the leaf-ribs of a saro-palm. Except just at the ends, the concave surface was hollowed into a furrow, the convex side underneath being scored with a number of little incisions about the thirtieth part of an inch in width. When played, the instrument is struck with small sticks, and is used particularly at the elephant-dance.
Westbeech, Dorehill, and Cowley left on the 10th for Panda ma Tenka; but Sepopo still refused to provide any canoes for the English officers, who were becoming more impatient than ever to get away.
On the 11th he had a mokoro, or boat-dance, executed through the town. It was supposed to represent a boating-excursion, the principal feature being a boat-song that was sung in chorus. On this occasion the king himself took the leading part, and went through all the gesticulations of a steersman, whilst about seventy of his people had to follow him and imitate the movements of rowers.
Not doubting that the English officers would very soon be permitted to depart, I had devoted some time to the preparation of several articles for insertion in various journals in England and at home; but I now began to fear that the opportunity of entrusting my correspondence to their charge would be again deferred. At length, however, the desired boats were forthcoming, and they were suffered to take their departure. Sepopo made a last effort to detain them, but finally yielded to their solicitations. The boatmen, taking their cue from the king, were at first inclined to be disagreeable; but I interfered and checked their insolence, and they were all brought to reason before the officers proceeded on their way.
My next excursion was towards the north-east. I shot a steinbock, and secured a good variety of coleoptera.
Rising before daybreak on the 21st, I set out on a ramble to the north, not returning till after sunset. The dew in the morning was very heavy; and I was tired in the evening by my long exertions; but I was amply compensated for all inconvenience and fatigue by the many objects of interest that I saw and collected. Many parts of the wood were overgrown with a tall spreading shrub covered with large white blossoms that perfumed the air with their fragrance. In one of the glades I found two new kinds of lilies, one with a handsome violet-coloured flower. A leaf-beetle of a yellow-ochre tint had settled on the other lily; and I likewise discovered another species with red and blue stripes, and two new species of weevils on the young sprouts of the musetta bushes. As I went back I caught three sorts of little rose-beetles on the white-flowering shrubs; and in a dry grassy hollow I found the species of Lytta which I had already seen in Sechele’s country during my second journey.
Having arranged to join a buffalo-hunt on the 24th, I retired to my hut rather earlier than usual on the previous evening; and it was scarcely nine o’clock when I was roused by a noise like sounds of weeping coming from the river. At first I did not take any particular heed; but finding that the noise continued, and that there was a murmur of voices that seemed to increase, I had the curiosity to send Narri, one of my servants, to ascertain the cause of the disturbance. In a few minutes he came running back with the news that Queen Moquai was having one of her maids drowned. Unable to believe that she could be capable of such an act, I hurried out, determined to convince myself by the testimony of my own eyes before I would credit so shameful a report.
A crowd of men and women, brawling, screeching, and laughing, was gathered on the shore; and just as I arrived, the body of a girl, apparently lifeless, was being lifted up the bank. In a few moments, however, she recovered consciousness and was dragged away towards Moquai’s quarters.