that. Little delay occurred in their attack upon the
abandoned prey. An animated scene was the onslaught;
for spears, axes, and knives, were quick at their gory work
of chopping, cutting, and stabbing, while the greedy horde
tore at the flesh, squabbling and even fighting over leg
bones and other tit-bits which stirred their gluttonous
desires. The scene baffles description. Over the carcases
human blood even was spilt, for two men were severely
wounded in the combat. To me it was a wonder that
some of the flesh-loving belligerents were not killed outright.
“ Let him take who has the power, and let him keep who
can,” was the order of the time ; and at last Might again was
Right, and every bit of meat found its way to a successful
fighter. Even the unclean ribs of one of the zebras which
the lions had gnawed, and the vultures pecked, had been
gladly seized.
Lions were evidently numerous here. Shortly after we
were in camp we heard their roars; and after the chorus
had subsided, and slowly died away, there arose the wild,
screaming laughter of hyenas, making the dismal hours of
night more melancholy, until the grey dawn appeared
bringing light and peace.
Sleep was, to me at least, impossible amidst those hideous
sounds. Every now and then I would awake startled by
the inharmonious howls of the hyenas. On that occasion
they were too much for me. I sat up and looked around.
Smoke rose from the smouldering fires, and sinuously swept
around the strings of meat which hung upon the rude
aboriginal spits.
On every hand lay the Kaffirs, their heads resting upon
their wooden pillows, and their bodies—as stiff as sticks—
stretched out like leathery corpses, exposed to the cold and
the heavy dew, with nothing between their nakedness and
the stars which sparkled in the far-off heavens.
“ Ah ! ” thought I ; “ wonderful men, happy men! Your
physical miseries are still in the dim future side by side
with your mental enlightenment. With civilisation strange
troubles will fall upon you. Oh, marvellous men ! natural
beasts, but happy mortals! Will your blight come with the
advent of the white man’s boasted institutions ? Will
civilisation fetter your freedom, and rob you of health?
Now you move in abject ignorance. The dome of heaven
is your covering, and the wild prairie grass your only
bed. And yet you are contented beasts, happy mortals,
and, perhaps, although you do not know it, favoured
immortals.”
Almost wishing I was a savage, I again lay down to rest.
Bad luck had disappointed me. Had it not been for the
difficulties with the men, which were every day, almost
hourly, thrust in my path, I would certainly have waited
longer in a country which was so favourable for hunting
lions.
But three moons had grown old and vanished since we
left Matabeli-land, and even now there were no signs of the
Zambesi. According to my reckoning, a week must elapse
before we could reach the river under our present conditions.
The old chief at Zingabila had talked with great volubility,
and if they did nothing else, his speeches had the
good effect of elevating the falling spirits of the household,
which had been sadly in need of active stimulants. In
reality, however, his talk had helped very little.
He had spoken of Mzungo, which is the name the natives
in that quarter have given to the Portuguese; but I was
unable to learn from him whether or not, from the town in