“Netted!” I said. “What do you mean?”
“ True, master; there is a tall high net round
the camp from above to below, and the net is
made of cord.”
“ Ah, if there is a net, there must be men behind
waiting to spear the game.” I called Manwa
Sera, and gave him thirty men, ordering him
to pull up river half a mile or so, and after
penetrating into the woods behind our camp, to
lie in wait near some path which led to the
market-place on which we were encamped.
After waiting an hour to give the men time,
we blew a loud blast on a horn as a signal,
and sent four men with shields to cut
the net, while ten men with guns, and thirty
men with spears, stood by ready to observe
what happened. While the net was being cut,
four or five heavy spears came hurtling from
the bushes. We fired at random into the bushes,
and made a rush forward, and saw several forms
run swiftly away from the vicinity of the camp.
Soon I heard a few of my men utter sharp
screams, and saw them hop away, with blood
streaming from their feet, while they cried,
“ Keep away from the path” ; “ Get away from
the road.”
Upon examining the paths, we discovered that
each bristled with sharp-pointed splinters of the
Pennisetum reed-cane which had pierced the
men’s feet to the bone. However, the ambusr
Jan. 19. i877- 1 OUR CANNIBAL CAPTIVES.
LWane-Mpungu.J
cade had been very successful, and had captured
eight of the Wane-Mpungu without an accident
or the firing of a shot. The savages were
not unpleasant to look at, though the prejudices
of our people made them declare that they
smelled the flesh of dead men when they caught
hold of their legs and upset them in the road!
Each man’s upper row of teeth was filed, and
on their foreheads were two curved rows of
tattoo-marks; the temples were also punctured.
Katembo questioned them, and they confessed
that they lay in wait for man-meat. They informed
us that the people inland were Waregga, but
that the Wakumu, coming from the eastward,
were constantly in the habit of fighting the
Waregga; that the Waregga were black, like the
Wane-Mpungu, but that the Bakumu were light-
complexioned, like a light-coloured native of Zanzibar
whom they pointed to. The captives also declared
that their village was an hour’s journey from
the camp, that they ate old men and old women,
as well as every stranger captured in the woods.
Our three asses seemed to awe them greatly,
and when one of them was led up to the asses
he begged so imploringly that we would be
merciful that we relented. We obtained considerable
amusement from them; but at 9 A.M.
we embarked them in our canoes to show us the
falls, which they said we should meet after four
hours’ journey.