The Lukanga Swamps

Abstract

ALTHOUGH only a few miles from the mining town of Broken Hill the Lukanga Swamps are one of the least-known parts of Northern Rhodesia. They are very sparsely inhabited, are quite off the beaten track, and are only occasionally visited by district officers. Few Europeans have done more than penetrate the edge of the swamp area. The actual extent of country under water varies with the wet and dry seasons, but on an average it is probably not less than 800 square miles. There is at least one open lake, known by the name of Suye, and another one is reported by natives. The area covered by the surrounding flats and the intricate maze of pools and channels that lead into the swamp itself is very much greater in extent: from the most northerly point to the southern border is about oo00 miles as the crow flies. The inhabitants of the swamp are a people going by the name of Batwa, and although in habits and customs they may differ a good deal from their neighbours they are probably the same people as the Balenge who inhabit the country round about. A paper I wrote some time ago for N.A.D.A. (the Native Affairs Department Annual, Southern Rhodesia, I929) contains an account of the Batwa. I first visited the swamps in March and April I928. It was hoped that at that time of year when the rains were drawing to a close the water would be high and that it would be possible to use native canoes in travelling from place to place. Actually my experience was very different. I first saw the swamps at Ngwena's village some 40 miles to the west of Broken Hill. I arrived in the evening, and after pitching camp went a short distance from the village and climbed an ant-heap. The thick bush that covers all that part of Rhodesia ended abruptly and gave place to an apparently limitless expanse of reeds that waved and rustled in the breeze. On either side the bush, like a coast-line, faded away in the distance. Leaving Ngwena the next day our party proceeded northwards along the eastern border of the swamp. We soon left the bush behind and entered an unpleasant country covered with tall grass and inundated with water that varied from ankle deep to waist deep. The whole of that day we plodded along through similar country, now out on the flats among the grass and now back again at the edge of the bush. By nightfall we had covered I5 miles and were glad to find ourselves on higher and drier ground at Mungalawa's village. During the day we crossed the Chipanya, Mwatishi, and Mufukushi rivers, all of which rise 20 to 30 miles to the east and drain into the swamp. Mosquitoes were present in millions, stinging incessantly, and a damp haze obscured the sun all day long. The next few days' journey was through forest country, and we did not see the swamps again till April I, when we left Muwala's village early in the morning and crossed the Lukanga river at a point a few miles north of where it flows into the swamp proper. The Lukanga was here about a quarter of a mile broad, but shallow and full of reeds and mud banks. Having crossed the greater part of the river our canoe ran unexpectedly on to one of these banks