On the evening of the following day I was attacked with such violent spasms in the chest that I writhed upon the ground in agony, and it was as much as four men could do to hold me still; it was not until Westbeech had administered a dose of ipecacuanha, which made me sick, that I could draw my breath at all freely. Subsequent attacks of a similar kind recurred at intervals during the sixteen months that my illness lasted, but I always found that the same remedy gave me relief.
For several days I was unable to rise from my bed. As I lay all alone I had only too much time to brood over my disappointment and frustrated scheme. I found, however, that in the way of sickness I was not by any means a solitary sufferer; some people that came from the Chobe brought the intelligence that M’Leod, Fairly, Dorehill, Cowley, with several of their attendants, and my late servant Pit, were all ill with fever at Panda ma Tenka.
It was not until the 19th that I was able to leave my room at all, but, with the help of my servants, I then made an effort to walk a little way on the grass outside our enclosure. A fresh inconvenience was now beginning to annoy us, for we were perpetually tormented by the mosquitoes, which at certain seasons are quite a plague on the Zambesi; every evening, and especially at night, these bloodthirsty little pests renew their attacks upon man and beast, and even woollen coverings form no protection from their sharp beaks. The only stratagem by which I could escape the irritation they caused was the unsavoury one of allowing my servants to burn a heap or two of cow-dung inside my hut.
In order to get something fresh for our larder, Westbeech and Walsh went out for a morning’s goose-hunting. It was vexatious that my state of health did not permit me to go even a little way with them. At this time of year the geese, and other birds of the duck breed, frequented the open parts of the marshes, and sportsmen, guided by their cackle, had to get at them in boats, pushing their way through the reeds. The best time for hunting them is when there is a moderate wind, as then the rustle of the reeds overpowers the noise made by the boats. When Sepopo heard of the success that had attended the expedition, he bought a lot of Westbeech’s shot, and sent some of his own people on a similar errand, and I should suppose with similar good luck, as when I breakfasted with the king a morning or two afterwards, I noticed several geese upon the table.
From the manner in which they were served, I could perceive that it was a dish to which the Marutse were by no means unaccustomed. The people generally take their meals sitting on straw or rush mats, sometimes inside the huts, and sometimes just in front of the entrance. All solid food is taken up with the fingers, but anything of a semifluid character is conveyed to the mouth by means of wooden spoons.
There is little to add to my previous account of the royal meals. The queens and white men invited to breakfast sat facing the east, but at supper, which was nearly always taken in the open air, they had their seats always placed on the king’s left hand. The king sipped the goblet of kaffir-corn beer before passing it first to the favourite wife, and then to the other lady-guests, and if no ladies were present, it was handed on to the court officials at once. Besides the kaffir-corn beer, honey-beer was occasionally introduced at supper, and the cup-bearer invariably tasted it before offering it to the king. As the whole of the honey in the country belongs to the crown, the beverage made from it is only consumed at court; and on occasions of festivity it is not passed beyond the circle of the royal family and certain distinguished guests, except to those from whom the king had already asked or was about to ask a favour. The honey is not purified for its preparation, but the beer is made by simply pouring water on to the honeycomb thrown into gourd-shells, and left to stand for about twelve hours in the sun.
After the 24th I was able to take more regular exercise, and went several times into the town with the object of exchanging my travelling-gear, now unfortunately of no service to me, for some local and ethnographical curiosities. Two-thirds of the plants that I collected were new to me, and most of those that were found on the river-bank belonged to the Zambesi highland.
As the mosquitoes prevented us from sleeping, I used to sit up and talk with Westbeech. I obtained from him all the information I could about the western Makalakas who resided on the Maitengwe as subjects of the Matabele. Some of these people I had already seen at Shoshong, and I had heard a good deal about them from Mr. Mackenzie.
About this time, Sepopo, not feeling very well, sent out instructions that no white men were to be admitted to his courtyard until further orders. No doubt Sykendu was at the bottom of this prohibition; he was always on the alert to do anything to revive the failing trade of his fellow-countrymen, and lost no opportunity of damaging the character of the merchants from the south.
Sepopo’s fishermen came to us every day with fish for sale. The Marutse fisher-craft may be divided into the two sections of reptile-hunting and fishing proper. It is only a few tribes that devote themselves systematically to the pursuit of the great reptiles, the crocodile and the water-lizard; but fishing proper is carried on by every one of the Zambesi tribes, from the Kabombo to far beyond the Victoria Falls, their skill in their art being superior to that of the residents on the coast, or even of the natives at Lake N’gami, who are said to be by no means wanting in expertness. Besides its importance as an article of diet, fish constitutes a regular portion of the royal tribute.