I ordered twenty men, armed with carbines, to carry
water for the distressed porters, and bring the corporal
B u g u , C alab a sh , o r G-outy-limbed. Tree s.
back as soon as possible. They all marched off, as they
always do on such exploits, in high good-humour with
themselves for the valour which they intended to show;
and in the evening came in, firing their guns in the most
reckless manner, beaming with delight; for they had the
corporal in tow, two men and two women captives, and a
spear as a trophy. Then in high impatience, all in a breath,
they began a recital of the great day’s work. The corporal
had followed on the spoor of the mule, occasionally
finding some of his things that had been tom from the
beast’s back by the thorns, and, picking up these one by
one, had become so burdened with the weight of them,
that he could follow no farther. In this fix the twenty
men came up with him, but not until they , had had a
scrimmage with the “ savages,” had secured four, and
taken the spear which had been thrown at them. Of the
mule’s position no one could give an opinion, save that
they imagined, in consequence of the thickness of the
bush, he would soon become irretrievably entangled m the
thicket, where the savages would find him, and bring him
in as a ransom for the prisoners. _ '*
What with the diminution of our supplies, the famished
state of the country, and the difficulties which
Halt, lfiiA. frownea upon us in advance, together with
unwillingness to give up so good a mule, with all its gear
and ammunition, I must say I felt doubtful as to what
had better be done, until the corporal, who felt confident
he would find the beast, begged so hard that I sent him in
command of another expedition of sixteen men, ordering
him to take one of the prisoners with him to proclaim to
his brethren that we would give up the rest if they returned
us the mule. The corporal then led off his band
to the spot where he last saw traces of the animal, and
tracked on till sundown; while Grant and myself went
out pot-hunting, and brought home a bag consisting of
one striped ejand, one saltiana antelope, four guinea-fowl,
four ringdoves,- and one partridge—a welcome supply,
considering we were quite out of flesh.
Next day, as there were no signs of the trackers, I went
again to the place of the elands, wounded a
Halt, i9(A. gne maie, but gave up the chase, as I heard
the unmistakable gun-firing return of the party, and
straightway proceeded to camp. Sure enough, there they
were; they had tracked the animal back to Marenga
Mkba.fi, through jungle—for he had not taken to the footpath.
Then finding he had gone on, they returned quite
tired and famished. To make the most of a bad job, I
now sent Grant on to the Robffiio (or windy) Pass, on the
top of the western chain, with the mules and heavy baggage,
and directions to proceed thence across the brow of
the hill the following morning, while I remained behind
with the tired men, promising to join him by breakfast