A Natural Wonder
The Zambezi River
The Victoria Falls
Formation of the Victoria Falls
People of the Victoria Falls
Enter the Ndebele
Discovery of the Victoria Falls
In Livingstone's Footsteps
Development of the Railway
To the Banks of the Zambezi
Development of the Falls
To The Congo
Development of Tourism
Development of Victoria Falls Town
Recent History
Further Information
Collectables

    
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To The Victoria Falls

More on the Victoria Falls

'Discovery' of the Victoria Falls

It is often questioned if David Livingstone can truely claim to have ‘discovered’ the Victoria Falls in 1855. Livingstone clearly acknowledged the help of his Makalolo porters in reaching the Falls, and the local Leya boatmen who guided him to their edge, and who's villages were located nearby.

Such a claim pre-supposes that for a white man - as opposed to a black man or a woman of either hue - to see the Falls is of added significance. Beyond the obviously racist and sexist (not to mention irrelevant) connotation of such a statement, there is also a question mark as to whether Livingstone was indeed the first white man to see the Falls. (Martin, 1997)

Livingstone was the first to publish descriptions of the Falls, and through his writings they became known to the rest of the world. Just as a modern scientst gains recognition for the discovery of a new biological species by being the first to not only notice its distinctions, but to describe and publish them, so our Victorian explorer can be said, within the context of global geographical knowledge, to be the discoverer of the Falls, with no disrespect to those who may have known of them before, or lived under the shadow of their spray for generations. The nationality, or colour of the individual is, as Martin rightly says, irrelevant, and to diminish Livingstone's achievement is a disservice to a man who did much to further the rights of black Africans, specifically his role in the abolishment of slavery, the destructive horrors of which penetrated deep into the Dark Continent, as Livingstone himself witnessed and recorded in his travels.


Named in English

Livingstone, together with his travelling companion Oswell, first heard of the Falls in 1851 when they first visited the banks of the Zambezi river.

“Of these we had often heard since we came into the country; indeed, one of the questions asked by Sebituane [in 1851] was, ‘Have you smoke that sounds in your country?’ They [the Makalolo] did not go near enough to examine them, but, viewing them with awe at a distance, said, in reference to the vapour and noise, ‘Mosi oa tunya’ (smoke does sound there). It was previously called Shongwe, the meaning of which I could not ascertain. The word for a 'pot' resembles this, and it may mean a seething caldron, but I am not certain of it.” (Livingstone, 1857)

They did not see the spray from the Falls themselves, but Livingstone recorded their location on a rough, but surprisingly detailed 'Sketch Map of Barotseland' (1851), with the note "Waterfall of Sikota - called Mosi-ia-thunya or smoke sounds (spray can be seen 10 miles distance)."

It was not until November 1855 that Livingstone explored downstream and witnessed them for himself.

On his explorations Livingstone carefully recorded local names for geographic landmarks. Here, however, he also named them in English - the Victoria Falls - in honour of his monarch, the reigning British Queen Victoria.

“Being persuaded that Mr. Oswell and myself were the very first Europeans who ever visited the Zambesi in the centre of the country, and that this is the connecting link between the known and unknown portions of that river, I decided to use the same liberty as the Makololo did, and gave the only English name I have affixed to any part of the country.” (Livingstone, 1857)

Livingstone's written accounts of his travels caught the imagination of Victorian Britain and, together with the later paintings of Thomas Baines, brought the Falls to the attention of the world.


Names for the Falls

The Makololo (or Kololo) called the Falls Mosi-oa-Tunya, which Livingstone translated as 'smoke sounder there' or the 'smoke which sounds', but which today is commonly translated as the 'Smoke that Thunders' (alternative translations include the 'smoke which explodes', the 'smoke that fumes', or 'the mist which thunders').

However the Makololo themselves were relative newcomers to the region, having temporarily overthrown the Lozi overlords. By the time of Livingstone's second visit, in 1860, the period of Makololo rule had ended, but they have left their mark in the language with their name for the Falls, which is still used locally, especially within the Lozi peoples on the northern banks of the river.

Livingstone records that prior to this the Falls were simply known as Shongwe (translated as 'boiling water in a pot'), but recent historians have doubted his interpretation in its use. The Nambya people south of the river call them Chinotimba, the Place that Thunders. Chinotimba is now also the name given to the township and suburbs of the Victoria Falls tourist town.

The Leya have rich cultural traditions linked to the Falls which they call Syungu Namutitima, the ‘mist that thunders,’ (Hang’ombe et al, 2019) translated by Livingstone on his later visit as ‘the Place of the Rainbow’ (Livingstone and Livingstone, 1865).

“The Leya name for the waterfall was ‘Syuungwe na mutitima,’ which can be translated as ‘the heavy mist that resounds,’ although the term ‘Syuungwe’ itself also implies rainbow, or the place of rainbows.” (McGregor, 2003)

They apparently expanded their definition by qualifying it with Mutuba wati nkayoke mulilo, meaning 'a fool might think he could collect fire from it'.

The Nambya people south of the river call them Chinotimba, the Place that Thunders. Chinotimba is now also the name given to the township and suburbs of the Victoria Falls tourist town.

The Matabele, later arrivals, named them aManz’ aThunqayo. All these names are essentially variations of 'the smoke that thunders'.

The Leya have named it Syungu Namutitima 'the mist that thunders'... Other Bantu groups that have names for the Falls are the Nambya who call it Chinotimba 'the thundering place', and the Ndebele who call it aManzi aThunqayo 'steaming or boiling water'. (Hang’ombe et al, 2019)

Debate on Date

In the build up to the 100th and 150th anniversaries of Livingstone’s discovery, there was much debate on the exact date of Livingstone's discovery of the Falls. Over the years there has been much confusion over this date.

"The date of the discovery of the Victoria Falls is frequently miss-stated. A common error is to assign it to November 5th, 1855. But the evidence of Livingstone's writings points to the date given in the Encyclopaedia Britannica, namely November 17th, 1855."

According to the chronology set out in ‘Missionary Travels’, Livingstone states quite clearly that he left the Victoria Falls on the 20th of November after taking two days to explore the Falls themselves, giving a date of arrival of the 18th. However, on completing his journey across the continent and arrival at Quilimane (Mozambique) he found it was four days later than he reckoned, drawing into doubt the whole chronology of his journey.

The debate over the date is thought to been laid to rest on the centenary when Mr P C G Adams (London Missionary Society) had unearthed correspondence from Livingstone stating that he was certain that the date on which he actually first viewed the Falls was the 16th November.


Next page: A Tour of The Victoria Falls

References

Hang’ombe, K, Chabata, E, and Mamvura, Z. (2019) Syungu Namutitima or Victoria Falls? Contest for place and place naming. Nomina Africana, 2019 33(1): 19–31)

Martin, D. (1997) Victoria Falls: Mosi-oa-Tunya African Publishing Group, Harare.

McGregor, J. (2003) The Victoria Falls 1900-1940: Landscape, Tourism and the Geographical Imagination, Journal of Southern African Studies, Vol.29, No.3, September 2003 , p.717-737.


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Discover the Victoria Falls with the Zambezi Book Company

'To The Victoria Falls' aims to bring you the wonder of the Victoria Falls through a look at its natural and human history.

This website has been developed using information researched from a wide variety of sources, including books, magazines and websites etc too numerous to mention or credit individually, although many key references are identified on our References page. Many of the images contained in this website have been sourced from old photographic postcards and publications and no infringement of copyright is intended. We warmly welcome any donations of photographs or information to this website.

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