CHAP. X. THE WILD DOG. 233 stock-still when less than her own length distant, and gave him time to escape; a branch pulled out his watch as he ran, and, turning half round to grasp it, he got a distant glance of her and her calf still standing on the selfsame spot, as if arrested in the middle of her charge by an unseen hand. When about fifty yards off, thinking his companions close behind, he shouted, "Look out there!" when off she rushed, snorting loudly, in another direction. The doctor usually went unarmed before this, but never afterward. A peculiar yelping came from one part of the jungle, and Charles Livingstone found it to proceed from a troop of wild dogs wrangling over the remains of a buffalo which they had killed and nearly devoured. The wild dog (Hyœna venatica) has a large head, and jaws of great power; the ears are long, the color black and yellow in patches, with a white tuft at the top of the tail. They hunt their game in packs, and perseveringly follow the animal they first start till they bring him down. The Balala of the Kalahari desert are said to have formerly tamed them and to have employed them to hunt. An intelligent native at Kolobeng remembered when a boy to have seen a pack of the dogs returning from a hunt in charge of their masters, who drove them like a herd of goats, and for safety kept them in a pit. A fine eland was shot by Dr. Kirk this afternoon, the first we have killed. It was in first-rate condition, and remarkably fat; but the meat, though so tempting in appearance, severely deranged all who partook of it heartily, especially those who ate of the fat. Natives who live in game countries, and are acquainted with the different kinds of wild animals, have a prejudice against the fat of the eland, the pallah, the zebra, hippopotamus, and pig: they never reject it, however, the climate making the desire for all animal food very strong; 234 FAMILIES FLITTING. СНАР. Х. but they consider that it causes ulcers and leprosy, while the fat of the sheep and of oxen never produces any bad effects, unless the animal is diseased. We frequently meet families flitting from one place to another, marching, like ourselves, in single file. The father and husband at the head, carrying his bow and arrow, bag, hatchet, and spear, and little else; next his son or sons, armed also, but carrying loads; then follow wife and daughters, with bulky loads of household gear on their heads. They meet us without fear, or any of the cringing ways of slaves, so common down the river, where the institution has been established. When we kill any animal these traveling parties are made welcome to a good portion of meat. At the foot or on the branches of the great wild fig-tree, at the public meeting-place of every village, a collection of the magnifi cent horns of buffaloes and antelopes shows the proud trophies of the hunter's success in the chase. At these spots were some of the most splendid buffalo heads we have ever seen the horns, after making a complete circle, had commenced a second turn. This would be a rich country for a horn fancier. On the morning of the 9th, after passing four villages, we breakfasted at an old friend's, Tombanyama, who lives now on the main land, having resigned the reedy island where he was first seen to the buffaloes, which used to take his crops and show fight to his men. He keeps a large flock of tame pigeons, and some fine fat capons, one of which he gave us, with a basket of meal. They have plenty of salt in this part of the country, obtaining it from the plains in the usual way. The half-caste partner of Sequasha and a number of his men were staying near. The fellow was very much fright СНАР. Х. CONFLUENCE OF THE KAFUE. 235 ened when he saw us, and trembled so much when he spoke that the Makololo and other natives noticed and remarked on it. His fears arose from a sense of guilt, as we said nothing to frighten him, and did not allude to the murder till a few minutes before starting, when it was remarked that Dr. Livingstone having been accredited to the murdered chief, it would be his duty to report on it, and that not even the Portuguese government would approve of the deed. He defended it by saying that they had put in the right man; the other was a usurper. He was evidently greatly relieved when we departed. In the afternoon we came to an outlying hamlet of Kambadzo, whose own village is on an island, Nyampungo or Nyangalule, at the confluence of the Kafue. The chief was on a visit here, and they had been enjoying a regular jollification in honor of his highness. There had been much mirth, music, drinking, and dancing. The men, and women too, had taken "a wee drap too much," but had not passed the complimentary stage. The wife of the head man, after looking at us a few moments, called out to the others, "Black traders have come before, calling themselves Bazungu, or white men, but now, for the first time, have we seen the real Bazungu." Kambadzo also soon appeared; he was sorry that we had not come before the beer was all done, but he was going back to see if it was all really and entirely finished, and not one little potful left somewhere. This was, of course, mere characteristic politeness, as he was perfectly aware that every drop had been swallowed; so we proceeded on to the Kafue, or Kafuje, accompanied by the most intelligent of his head men. A high ridge, just before we reached the confluence, commands a splendid view of the two great rivers and the rich country beyond. Behind, on the north and east, is the high mountain range 236 MOUNTAIN RANGE. СНАР. Х. along whose base we have been traveling; the whole range is covered with trees, which appear even on the prominent peaks, Chiarapela, Morindi, and Chiava; at this last the chain bends away to the N.W., and we could see the distant mountains where the chief Semalembue gained all our hearts in 1856. CHAP. XI. HERD OF HIPPOPOTAMI. 237 CHAPTER XI. Semalembue.-Nchomokela.-Mr. Moffat's Mission to Moselekatse heard of.Native Game-law.-Mountains.-Ancient State of the Country.-Neither Art nor Power possess the Effect of ancient Miracles.-Jealousy of Strangers not African, but Arab.-The Bawe and "Baenda pezi," or "Go-nakeds." -Their Hospitality.—Leave Zambesi, and ascend Zungwe to Batoka Highlands. Sebetuane.-A Cairn.-Batoka Men of Peace.-Arboriculturists.— Grave-yards.—Muave.-Tsetse Medicine.-Desire for Peace.-Corn extensively cultivated.-A Poet and Minstrel.-Musical Instruments.-Our naked Friend.-Polite Tobacco-smokers.-Bawe never visited by Europeans before. -Slave-trade follows our Footsteps.-Attempt by the Governor General of Mozambique to shut up Rovuma.-Seabenzo.-Elephant killed.-Numbers annually slain. Meteor.-The Falls visible upward of twenty Miles off.Fever treated and untreated.-Moshobotwane.-Meet Makololo near the Falls. On the 9th of July we tried to send Semalembue a present, but the people here refused to incur the responsibility of carrying it. We, who have the art of writing, can not realize the danger one incurs of being accused of purloining a portion of goods sent from one person to another, when the carrier can not prove that he delivered all committed to his charge. Rumors of a foray having been made, either by Makololo or Batoka, as far as the fork of the Kafue, were received here by our men with great indignation, as it looked as if the marauders were shutting up the country, which they had been trying so much to open. Below the junction of the rivers, on a shallow sand-bank, lay a large herd of hippopotami, their bodies out of the water, like masses of black rock. Kambadzo's island, called Nyangalule, a name which occurs again at the mouth of the Zambesi, has many choice Motsikiri (Trachelia) trees on it, and four very conspicuous |