Page:Seven Years in South Africa v2.djvu/192

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146
Seven Years in South Africa.

extend beyond the west bank of the Zambesi; again to the north of this is the settlement of the Mamboë, on the lower Kabompo and Liba. Around the town of Kavagola, on the upper Zambesi, are the Bamomba and Manengo tribes, while the Masupia region lies for fifty miles up the river from a point about thirty miles below its junction with the Chobe. East of this the Batoka people range for thirty miles below the Victoria Falls, where their frontier is joined by the Matongas, who reside near the middle of the Kashteja, Livingstone’s Majeela. On the lower course of the Kashteja, between the Matongas and Masupias, are the western Makalakas, the eastern Makalakas being farther down the Zambesi, with Wankie’s kraal as their principal property. The Luyana tribe is settled south of the Zambesi to the west of the Masupias, and the other tribes either extend in small districts thence towards the Barotse valley, north of the Matongas, and east of the Mamboë, or have scattered themselves about in little detached settlements here and there over the kingdom.

Nearly the whole of these which I have thus briefly enumerated are, with the marked distinction of the Marutse, held as vassals, the people being treated to a certain degree as slaves. However it is not more than a quarter of them who actually pay any tribute, these being chiefly the eastern tribes, such as the Batokas, eastern Makalakas and Mabimbis. As a consequence of Sepopo’s oppression, many of the natives have withdrawn from the kingdom, generally going south, and the difficulty of collecting tribute anywhere has very greatly increased. The imposts levied upon such as can be induced to pay them