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a Tswana sub chief, Moffat was asked to obtain the release of the legal heir of the eight
Tswana tribes; Macheng who had been captured by Mzilikazi as a young child. Mzilikazi
agreed as long as the acting chief Sekhoni stepped down if Macheng was returned as Chief.
Macheng and Sekhoni however fought and there were assassination attempts, resulting in
Sekhoni's son, Khame (Khama), a baptized convert of Moffat becoming the Chief, and also
establishing the tribal Chief lineage that exists till today in Botswana. The current president is
Ian Khama. Mary Livingstone travelled north also to try and find her husband but returned and
again tried again, only to end up at the mouth of the Zambezi River in Mozambique where she
died of fever and is buried there. On Moffat's final trip to Mzilikazi he obtained permission for
a new mission station to be built at Inyati (buffalo), 60 km northeast of present Bulawayo, and
where his son John labored for a further 25 years but with little success. Mzilikazi's son
Lombengula honored his father's promises and Selous later obtained permission from
Lombengula to hunt in the area. The attempted mission station in Linyanti failed because of the
four LMS adult missionaries, three died of fever and two of the four children also died. After
54 years Moffat returned to Britain, met with Queen Victoria, the Archbishop, Prime Minister
Gladstone, Cetshwayo the captured Zulu King, and was awarded a D.D. Degree by Edinburgh
University for his work and translations into Tswana. He was called upon to identify the
remains of David Livingstone and attend Livingstone's funeral. He spent much of his time
traveling and giving talks and visiting his grandchildren, including those of Livingstone. His
efforts paved the way for the later visitation of the Tswana Chiefs that pleaded with the Queen
and parliament for an independent protectorate from the Transvaal Boers who were hoping to
take over what is now Botswana.
Harris mentions that the name Gnoo comes from the Hotentot name, Sassaby (Tsessebe)
from the Tswana word meaning speed (a San Bushmen guide told me he had chased a
Tsessebe along a fence at 120 km/hr. with a Landrover) and impala from Palah used by the
Matebele.
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