Matabele Land and the Victoria Falls. A naturalist’s wanderings.

Matabele Land. Mosi-oa-Tunya. Victoria Falls, Zambesi. Africa. Landmark. Zambia. Zimbabwe.
Victoria Falls or Mosi-oa-Tunya, Zambesi. (Western Extremety). Border between Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Matabele Land and the Victoria Falls.

The traveller whose journey to the Zambesi is here recounted died of fever a few days after he had left that river on his way homewards, and the book has been compiled from his note-books, and letters home.

Of the illustrations in the body of the work, I may remark that they are all from original drawings taken on the spot, or from the objects they purport to represent. Some are from sketches by the late Frank Oates; the remainder— and these the larger number— from those of his brother, W. E. Oates, who accompanied him during a portion of his journey. C. G. Oates, May 1881. (Excerpt from the preface)

Illustrations:

  • Victoria Falls, Zambesi (Western Extremety)
  • Tati Settlement. Botswana. South Africa.
  • Dry bed of the Inkwesi River.
  • Shoshong Bamangwato. Chief settlement of the eastern Bamangwato (also Mangwato or BagammaNgwato). Shoshone is a place in the Central District of Botswana. It was the capital of the Bamangwato one of the largest cities in southern Africa.
  • High Veldt. Transvaal. As Veld (Afrikaans or Dutch; German: Corridor) is referred to in South Africa mainly the plateau-like regions within the country, on the coast side facing away from the Great Escarpment. In Namibia Veld is synonymous with the corridor, meaning bush and savannah country, mainly used on farms. A bushfire is referred to accordingly as Veld brand or Veld fire. Transvaal was in the northeast of South Africa, between the Limpopo and Vaal rivers (Transvaal means “Beyond the Vaal”). The province bordered on the south by the provinces of Cape Province, Orange Free State and Natal and to Swaziland. The northern neighbors were Botswana and Zimbabwe; the east were Mozambique and Swaziland.
  • Hunters’ camp on the Semokwe River. Border of Botswana and Zimbabwe.

Source: Matabele Land and the Victoria Falls. A naturalist’s wanderings in the interior of South Africa. From the letters and journals of the late Frank Oates, F.R.G.S. Edited by C. G. Oates (Memoir). London 1881.

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