The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-03-24
NORTHERN RHoDEs1A.
A Vast and Beautiful Region North
of the Zambesi.


of the Zambesi
London Globe
Mr. Walker, a hunter of the first rank
In Rhodesia, has been telling repre- /
sentative of The Buluwayo Chronicles
ABOUT the wonderful stretch of territory
north or the Zambesi. This hunter. writes
the pressman, is quiet spoken and IN
demonstrative, absolutely without hrag- !
gadocto. He relates how in the dark. :
ness he killed lion at close quarters
pretty much as other men would de-
scribe how they knocked over A hare
Coolness and determination, with eapac-
1ty FOR quick decision. and action. under-
lie his unassuming demeanor 1t is in his
slttlng room adorned with many trophies
OF the chase, that Mr. Walker tells OF
the vast region north Of the big water
way.
''On the other side" he saws "fs
beautiful country, and the plateau IS
much healthier than here. It's average
nelght is 1000 feet or so. The soil is most
FERTILE, and it is well watered everywhere.
Inc Nome plateau, between the Zam-
Des1 and the Kafui, is not so healthy.
being, for one thing, lower The soil,
water and grass are of the best and
anogether 1t is the finest ranching and
agricultural land have ever seen in any
part OF South Africa. In appearance it is
not at all like Matabeleland. It is what
one would call semi-open country. AS
10 the natives, you could not wish for q
better class. They are willing to do any
thlng you ask them to do. and l never
mad the slightest trouble with them.
Went up there for the first time three
years ago. and have been there twice
again L went in for trading and hunt.
ing, but my chief idea was to have a
look at the country with view to
setting there. The Kafui VALLEY Is a
splendid piece of country, long and wide.
and soil Of the best-something like what
suppose the Nile valley is 1t is mum
oated every wet season, but believe that
IN spite OF this it is not an unhealthy
place. There are English missionaries.
with their wives and children. living right
on the banks Of the river and thew are
not troubled with fever The months dur
Ing which it is least healthy are March
and April
Across the Kafui there is a very hlgI,
country again. The only people who
nave peen IN that country are traders
and the police. There is any amount OF
game all over the place-aI the game
you get In this country, and more be-
sizes. There are pookoo lechwe. stu
tanga, 1chtenstein. See, here are the
skins of some of them. Strange enough.
you don't get either the giraffe or ostrich
tnere You don't get them further north
III Soiile" AeIe ABOUT Lake Tanganyika,
and, of course, you get them further
south. The northern giraffe. bv tbe wav
Is d1fferently marked and generally has
three horns. should certainly saw thar
the climate there is healthier than this.
IN the hottest month-October-it;s not
SO hot as 1t is here There's ALWAYS a
dellghtfully cool breeze blowing, which
Keeps down the heat. 1t works against
the heat automatically. as it were The
breeze. iS
springs up about sunrise and blows con-
t1nually till sunset. The nights Them
selves are SO cool that even in the hot
test part of the year YOU want two
blankets. The mere fact that the nights
are invariably cool must make a great
difference in the health of the place
You see the corn and the grass On the
plateau. have seen Kaffir corn there
IL to 20 feet high. Down in the valleys
AGAIN short sweet grass grows ONLY six
mcnes high. Take the best parts of tha
1ransYaal and Free State-I know them
Well-a farmer has to bring his stocL
down from the high to the low veldt-
ana go back again to the high veldt in
the summer time. But on The nlateau
man can stay there all the year round
none or the traders are settled there.
There are only the police and few mis-
slonarleS. We generally leave here in
April and May and get back in October
or November There's a road starting
from the banks of the Zanlbesi below the
junction of the Gwaai You get your
wagons over in this way. Two hogs
heads are tied underneath the wagon.
the wheels fastened to the body of the
wagon, the disselboom taken out and
then dugout goes on each side of the
wagon Some Of the niggers hold to
ropes and the others paddle. It takes
only about ten minutes If YOU do the
thing smartly, as the rive is only about
200 yards wide there Two hogsheads
were left there for the %eneft of peopIe
crossing. These, however, have become
ant-eaten, and any one going up now
should take hogsheads with him TIC
not very Far from here-about $50 miles
to the zambesi and another fifty to the
plateau