from the fatigue, pulled up for a charge, and allowed me
to knock him over. This was glorious fun for the villagers,
who cut him up on the spot and brought him home.
Of course, one half the flesh was given to them, in return
for which they brought us some small delicacies to show
their gratitude; for, as they truly remarked, until we
came to their village they never knew what it was to get
a present, or any other gift but a good thrashing.
23d.—To-day I tried the ground again, and, whilst
walking up the hill, two black rhinoceros came trotting
towards us in a very excited manner. I did not wish to
fire at them, as what few bullets remained in my store
I wished to reserve for better sport, and therefore, for the
time being, let them alone. Presently, however, they
separated ; one passed in front of us, stopped to drink in
a pool, and then lay down in it. Not heeding him, I
walked up the hill, whilst the other rhinoceros, still trotting,
suddenly turned round and came to drink within fifty
yards of us, obstructing my path ; this was too much of
a joke; so, to save time, I gave him a bullet, and knocked
bim over. To my surprise, the natives who were with me
would not touch his flesh, though pressed by me to “ n’yam
n’yam,” or to eat. I found that they considered him an
unclean beast; so, regretting I had wasted my bullet, I
went farther on and startled some buffaloes.
Though I got very near them, however, a small antelope
springing up in front of me scared them away, and I
could not get a front shot at any of them. Thus the
whole day was thrown away, for I had to return empty-
handed.
24th to 30th.—Grant and I after this kept our pot
boiling by shooting three more antelopes ; but nothing of
consequence transpired until the 30th, when Bukhet, Ma-
hamed’s factotum, arrived with the greater part of the
Turk’s property. He then confirmed a report we had
heard before, that, some few days previously, Mahamed
had ordered Bhkhet to go ahead and join us, which he
attempted to do; but, on arrival at Panyoro, h is, party
had a row with the villagers, and lost their property.
Bukhet then returned to Mahamed and reported his defeat
and losses; upon hearing which, Mahamed at once said to
him, “ What do you mean by returning to me empty-
handed? go back at once and recover your things, else
how can I make my report at Gondokoro ? ” With these
peremptory orders Bfikhet went back to Panyoro, and
commenced to attack it. The contest did not last long; for,
after three of Biikhet’s men had been wounded, he set fire
to the villages, killed fifteen of the natives, and, besides
recovering his own lost property, took one hundred cows.
31 si.—To-day Mahamed came in, and commenced to
arrange for the march onwards. This, however, was no
easy matter, for the Turks alone required six hundred
porters—half that number to carry their ivory, and the
other half to carry their beds and bedding; whilst from
fifty to sixty men was the most a village had to spare,
and all the village chiefs were at enmity with one another.
The plan adopted by Mahamed was, to summon the
heads of all the villages to come to him, failing which, he
would seize all their belongings. Then, having once got
them together, he ordered them all to furnish him with so
many porters a-head, saying he demanded it of them, for
the “ great government’s property ” could not be left on
the ground. Their separate interests must now be sacrificed,
and their feuds suspended; and if he heard, on his
return again, that one village had taken advantage of the
other’s weakness caused by their employment in his service,
he would then not spare his bullets,—so they might look
out for themselves.
Some of the Turks, having found ninety-nine eggs in a
crocodile’s nest, had a grand feast. They gave us two of
the eggs, which we ate, but did not like, for they had a
highly musky flavour.