R IV A L STORY TELLERS. 5
soldier blew a bugle at the rising and setting of the sun;
how the Portuguese were carried about in easy chairs, and
built houses of stone and mud, and never drank water; how
the white wives had long flowing hair, and never did any
work, and numerous other extraordinary memories.
But Karemha had no idea of being outdone. Not wishing
to appear of smaller reputation than his aged rivals, he laid
great emphasis upon the relation of his experiences in
distant southern lands, where the white man drove oxen in
waggons.. To describe this with greater effect he gave
practical illustrations by shouting and gesticulating in a
most violent manner, pantomimically performing all the
time the different methods of driving the trek ox. He
showed how the white man rode upon the back of animals
like zebras, for it must not be forgotten that the people
here had never seen a donkey, an ox, nor even a horse. The
reality of his description was made more forcible by an
action of show of riding a very rough-trotting horse.
His mimicry caused great wonder and amusement. My
follower also showed how the white man hunted the antelope,
firing from the back of a horse when running .at full
speed.
He also described how the white child was nearly
smothered in limbo and beads, and was fed from a bottle,
and rolled in a gourd on wheels with its little face hidden
from the sun.
One of his most impressive wonders, however, was to
count upon his fingers to show how many moons he had
travelled with this white man, and how many, many more
would pass before he would again reach the land of his
birth, the country of Umzila, on the great river Sabia which
flowed to the sea through the land of the rising sun.
After a recital of such stories the pipe went socially