Limpopo River

“ The tsetse-fly swarms. Large game is plentiful over all this region. The southern portion is called Gasa; the northern, Umhlenga—already described. The entrance of the Limpopo river is in 25 degrees 17 minutes South latitude, and about three miles broad, which it continues to be up to the junction of the Olifant river, gradually narrowing towards the north. It is full of hippopotami and alligators that grow to an enormous size, and several kinds of fish.
Lorenzo Marques is the capital of the Portuguese possessions in East Africa; for some distance along the coast it is a dirty unhealthy place. ”

“ They spread themselves all down the thickly wooded coast belt of East and South Africa as far as Mossel Bay, and along all the tributaries of the Zambesi and the Limpopo rivers, and it was probably from the headwaters of the Marico and Notwani rivers that they found their way to the Molopo, and thence through Bechwanaland to the Orange river. ”

“ Many of the spurs of the Molopo range are free from bush, where the native cattle find fine grazing-land, and the gigantic baobab, palms, euphorbias, aloes of many kinds with their crimson flowers, and other tropical trees skirt the hills and mountain streams. The fallen masses of rock from the pyramidal-shaped hills strew the ground at their base, and give a peculiar and strange feature to the scenery around. This country gradually descends towards the south and east, until it reaches the Limpopo river, interrupted by many isolated hills and mountain ranges, thickly wooded ”

“ The Limpopo is an unfortunate river as much of its valley with a considerable district on each side of it is subjected by nature to an abominable curse,—which population and cultivation will in the course of years probably remove but which at present is almost fatal to European efforts at work within the region affected. There is a fly,—called the Tsetse fly,—which destroys all horses and cattle which come within the regions which it selects for its own purposes. Why it should be destructive to a party of horses or to a team of oxen and not to men has I believe to be yet found out. ”

“ The important rivers are the Limpopo or Crocodile River, so named in compliment to its reptile inhabitants, and the Vaal, a tributary of the Orange River. This rises among the Drakenberg Mountains, and, curving, flows west as a boundary between the Orange Free State and the Transvaal. The Limpopo rises between Johannesburg and Pretoria, and sprays out north-east, north-west, east, and south-east, reaching the sea in the neighbourhood of Delagoa Bay. ”

“ Thus the populations become incessantly displaced, like running waters drawn into a whirlpool. Not all the tribes occupying the river valleys draining to the Limpopo have yet been reduced, some even exacting tribute from the Boers settled in the vicinity. ”

“ That men as well as cattle should drink it seems surprising, yet they do,—Europeans as well as natives,—and apparently with no bad effects. Below Palla, one hundred and ninety-five miles north of Mafeking, the Notwani joins the Limpopo, or Crocodile River, a much larger stream, which has come down from the Transvaal hills, and winds for nearly a thousand miles to the north and east before it falls into the Indian Ocean. ”

“ The stream was now flowing, and as its mouth was much blocked up by reeds, we felt pretty sure that no crocodiles would have made their way overland to the water, and so we ventured to enjoy a bath at the ford, which was moderately deep.
On the southern side of the river-mouth we found one of the “dornveldts” common in the Limpopo valley, a wide tract of rich soil, densely overgrown with bushes of the Acacia horrida, six feet in height. These are districts which might well rejoice the heart of a European landowner; but for years to come no doubt they are destined to lie fallow. ”

“ The other two rivers that complete this ancient river system are the Molapo or Mafeking, and the Kuruman. The former rises on the central watershed in the district of Molapo in Montsioa’s territory. The eye of this river is situated 26 degrees 7 minutes South latitude, 26 degrees 20 minutes East longitude, in a lovely wooded glen, 5350 feet above sea-level, and only ten miles from the main eye of the Molmane river that falls into the Limpopo basin; the watershed passing across the desert divides the two. ”

“ Before reaching the Notuany, I had found out that the game which at the time of my last visit had been very abundant on the Limpopo, had been considerably reduced by the continual hunting carried on by the emigrants. I found only a few traces of hippopotamuses and some giraffe-tracks in the bushes by the footpath down by the river, but neither had I opportunity for hunting myself, nor did I wish to reveal their existence to the Boers. ”

“ Not another specimen was seen until we had reached the Limpopo, the elevated tracts lying between which river and the Likwa divide the principal waters of Southern Africa, and form the peculiar habitat of this species. Even there it invariably resides in limited families, which seldom contain more than one old bull—a dozen or more of the younger males usually herding by themselves. Equal in stature to the largest Arab horse, the whole structure—remarkably powerful and muscular—is especially adapted for traversing the rugged regions that it frequents. ”

“ To the west of this region is the Bamalitsi district, and to the east Bamapela, all within the Zoutpansberg division, and through nearly the central portion the tropic of Capricorn runs. The Maalaqueen or Nylstroom, an extensive river rising in the mountains round Nylstroom, flows north through Makapans Poort, past Potgieter Rust for eighty miles, and through Blaauwberg, a lofty range, and on through a dense and beautiful forest for nearly 100 miles, entering the Limpopo. The forest is full of game of every kind; the natives live on the river-banks. ”

“ Besides their own saddle-horses, six others were furnished with pack-saddles, and lightly laden with ammunition, clothing, and such other articles as might be required. The camp where we now encounter them is a temporary halting-place on the Limpopo. They have succeeded in crossing the river, and are now on the borders of that land so long represented to them as being a hunter’s paradise. A toilsome journey is no longer before them ”

“ Drifting down it is a large raft, with many people upon it, and that which, seen from a distance, might be taken for three trek-waggons. On nearer view, however, these are discovered to be but waggon—tilts, supported on upright posts instead of wheels. Needless to say, they are the same which have been all along sheltering our party of migrating Boers, and the river the Limpopo; while the large raft is a composite structure of the three small ones lashed and braced together, with some additional timbers to give it greater size and strength. ”

“ The slender rivulet below us is one of the topmost branches of the great Limpopo, rising in a marsh in the wood behind, forcing its way through the hills and the bush-veld to the north, and travelling thence through jungles and fever-swamps to the Portuguese sea-coast. The road is one of the old highways of exploration; it is not fifty years since a white man first saw the place. ”

“ In all these tributaries of the Limpopo that drain the above region, none retain water throughout the year, although they are large and broad streams with steep and lofty banks, but during the dry season water may be obtained from most of them by digging a few feet in their sandy beds; they are all at too sharp an angle to allow water to remain in them. The main road from Ba-Mangwato to Matabeleland crosses most of them, and frequently I have had to wait weeks on their banks until the flood-water had subsided to enable me to cross. ”

“ Further on he describes the extensive and romantic valley of the Limpopo, "which strongly contrasts with its own solitude, and with the arid lands which must be traversed to arrive within its limits; Dame Nature has doubtless been unusually lavish of her gifts. A bold mountain landscape is chequered by innumerable rivulets abounding in fish, and watering a soil rich in luxurious vegetation. Forests, producing timber of the finest growth, are tenanted by a multitude of birds, which, if not generally musical, are all gorgeously attired ”

“ Hence it is probable that the increase of population and the development of agriculture will one day enable civilised man to introduce his domestic animals into the Limpopo valley. But on the eastern slopes the permanent difference of climate between the valleys draining to the Indian Ocean and the elevated Transvaal plateau is so great that horses and horned cattle cannot be transported without great danger from one region to the other. ”

“ The really bad part of our journey was about 150 miles across a sandy country, with low scrub. The bullocks, when driven to it, would eat the leaves of this scrub, so that we did not anticipate any difficulty in the way of forage. In the wet season many streams run across the country and find their way into the Limpopo. In summer they dry up, and water is only obtained in pools along their courses. There were twelve waggons in the caravan—ten belonging to Macgregor, and my two. ”

“ The Limpopo flows through almost unknown solitudes throughout the whole section of its course, which forms the northern frontier of the republic and which sweeps round to the east of the border range. The white population does not descend from the elevated plateaux, which are here carved into elongated 214 SOUTH AND EAST AFRICA. tories by the streams flowing to the lower Limpopo. ”

“ A straight road between crowding palms crosses a wide rice-plain, opening out of the cleft carved by the mountain river, and leads to the curious Lake of Limbotto, a green mass of luxuriant water-weeds, the dense vegetation solidifying into floating islands of verdure, intersected by narrow channels, only navigable to a native bloto skilfully handled, for Nature alternately builds up and disperses these flowery oases, blocking up old water-ways and opening new ones with bewildering confusion. ”

“ Although, according to Selous, the Bushbucks that are found on the Zambesi to the east of the Victoria Falls differ from those inhabiting the Limpopo (that is to say, from the typical roualeyni) in being of a dark red colour, thickly spotted on the haunches, shoulders, and sides, and marked with three or four faint white stripes, whereas the adult of the Limpopo form is a dark brownish grey, not striped, and often without a sign of spots, we venture to think there is sufficient evidence to show that these distinctions will not hold good when more material from the two rivers has been examined. ”

“ Farther south the Limpopo drains a portion of the interior plateau but breaks through the bounding highlands on the side of the continent nearest its source. The Rovuma, Rufiji, Tana, Juba and Webi Shebeli principally drain the outer slopes of the East African highlands, the last named losing itself in the sands in close proximity to the sea. ”

“ Thus in the valley of the Tsangpo a continuous displacement of solid matter from west to east is going on. It is not alone that the river excavates the bed with its own weight, and loads its water with masses of mud; but also the material deposited at the banks is borne away by the wind which comes to the help of the water. Wind and flowing water work together in harmony to the same end, washing out this gigantic drainage channel deeper and deeper. They have laboured at the work for untold thousands of years, and the result is the Tsangpo valley as we see it to-day. ”

“ The temple of the speaker was in ruins long before Spanish days.
Like other streams of the west coast, the great river Rimac has run through the gamut of all zones. Hurrying down from the cordillera, it spreads fertility far and wide over the dry shore-valley. As far away as Chorillos, “little water jets,” the water of the Rimac filters through, led astray for irrigation. But its own journey to the sea is vain. The mountain water is so precious to the desert that by the time the stream has reached the shore, it has not force enough left to make an outlet across the beach into the ocean. ”

“ The soil is remarkably fertile, yielding abundantly wherever cultivated. Lake Liemba, which lies in this basin, is, however, twenty-five hundred feet above the level of the sea. The land around this lake is very steep, the rocks in many instances running from a height of two thousand feet down to the surface of the lake. ”

“ Rhodes’s Matoppo Dam is to be used in connection with the irrigation of a portion of his farm near Bulawayo. This farm is situated on the northern edge of the Matoppos, eighteen miles from Bulawayo, and through it runs the valley of a tributary from the Malima River. This tributary is dry eight months in the year, and the land around consequently parched. Mr. Rhodes has built a huge earthwork wall to dam the tributary. The work was commenced in May, 1899. It will render possible the cultivation of some 2,000 to 3,000 acres of the most fertile soil. ”

“ Herds of antelope, and of hartebeest, were feeding over the vast plain. They could be counted by thousands, and it was indeed a glorious sight for the hunter’s eye, that vast undulating plain, whose gentle rises concealed the distance, and were covered with rich pasture, over which were feeding great herds of cattle, who owned no master. About five miles distant the line of the Limpopo bordered by trees, was seen glistening through the foliage as it sparkled in the morning sun. ”

“ At length we made the last ascent up to the top of the pass, where the height is 17,851 feet above sea-level. At the other side a river runs north-east, one of the headwaters of the Raga-tsangpo. To the west there is a brilliant spectacle, the summits of Lunpo-gangri rising in sharp and savage beauty from a maze of mountains and ridges, which shine in lighter bluer shades the more remote they are. To the north-east we catch a glimpse of an outlying ridge covered from foot to crest with new-fallen snow. The broad flat valley of the Raga-tsangpo stretches eastwards as far as the eye can see. ”