liome. Sandia’s mosamela, or small carved wooden pillow,
exactly resembling the ancient Egyptian one, was hung from
the back of his neck; this pillow and a sleeping mat are
usually carried by natives when on hunting excursions. The
Chief visited the different camp-fires of our men, and accepted
presents pf meat from them; but said that he should like to
consume; it with his elders, as he wished to consult them
whether he ought to receive the half of the elephant from the
Englishmen. His Cabinet, seeing no good reason for departing
from the established custom, concluded that it was best to treat
white tax-payers as on a perfect equality with black ones, and
to accept the half which belonged to Sandia’g Government. In
the afternoon the Chief returned with his counsellors, accompanied
by his wife and several other women, carrying five pots
of beer: three, he explained, were a present to the white men,
and the other two were intended for sale. The women have
a remarkably erect gait, probably from having. been accustomed
from infancy to carry heavy water-pots on their heads.
This brings all the'muscles of the back into play, and might
prove beneficial as a practice to those who are troubled with
weakness of spine among ourselves. They use a piece of
wood between the head and pot, perhaps for elegance.
We had the elephant’s fore-foot cooked for ourselves, in
native fashion. A large hole was dug in the ground, in
which a fire was made; and, when the inside was thoroughly
heated, the entire foot was [placed in i t , . and covered over
with the hot ashes and soil; another fire was made above the
whole, and kept burning all night. We had the foot thus
cooked for breakfast next morning, and found it delicious. I t
is a whitish mass, slightly gelatinous, and sweet, like marrow.
A long [march, to prevent biliousness, is a wise precaution
after a meal of elephant’s foot. Elephant’s trunk and tongue
are also good, and, after long simmering, much resemble
the hump of a buffalo, and the tongue of an ox; but all the
other meat is tough, and, from its peculiar flavour, only to be
eaten by a hungry man. The quantities of meat our men
devour is quite astounding. They boil as much as their
pots will hold, and eat till it becomes physically impossible
for them to stow away any more. An uproarious dance
follows, accompanied with stentorian song; and as' soon
as they have shaken their first course down, and washed off
the sweat and dust of the after performance, they go to work
to roast more: a short snatch of sleep succeeds, and they are
up and at it again; all night long it is boil and eat, roast and
devour, with a few brief interludes of sleep. Like other carnivora
these men can endure hunger for a much longer period
than the mere porridge-eating tribes. Our men can cook meat
as well as any reasonable traveller could desire; and, boiled in
earthen pots, like Indian chatties, it tastes much better than
when cooked in iron ones.
Their porridge is a failure, at least for a Scotch digestion
that has been impaired by fever. When on a journey,
unaccompanied by women, as soon as the water is hot,
they tumble in the meal by handfuls in rapid succession,
until it becomes too thick to stir about, when it is
whipped off the .fire, and placed on the ground; an assistant
then holds the pot, whilst the cook, grasping the stick
with both hands, exerts his utmost strength in giving it a
number of circular turns, to mix and prevent the solid mass
from being burnt by the heat. I t is then served up to us,
the cook retaining the usual perquisite of as much as can be
induced to adhere to the stick, when he takes it from the pot.
By this process, the meal is merely moistened and warmed,
but not boiled; much of it being raw, it always causes