36 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. 



words to Mandy, whom he knew and seemed pleased 

 to see again, he asked who was the owner of the 

 other waggon and the cart, and being told by Mr. 

 Phillips, who acted as interpreter, that I was, he 

 asked me what I had come to do ; I said I had come 

 to hunt elephants, upon which he burst out laughing, 

 and said, " Was it not steinbucks " (a diminutive 

 species of antelope) " that you came to hunt ? Why, 

 you're only a boy." I replied that, although a boy, 

 I nevertheless wished to hunt elephants, and asked 

 his permission to do so, upon which he made some 

 further disparaging remarks regarding my youthful 

 appearance, and then rose to go without giving me 

 any answer. He was attended by about fifty 

 natives who had all been squatting in a semicircle 

 during the interview, but all of whom, immediately 

 he rose to go, cried out, " How ! how ! " in a tone 

 of intense surprise, as if some lovely apparition 

 had burst upon their view ; then, as he passed, 

 they followed, crouching down and crying out, 

 " O thou prince of princes ! thou black one ! thou 

 calf of the black cow ! thou black elephant ! " etc. 

 etc. The Matabele huts are not as good as those 

 of the Bechuanas, being built on the Zulu plan, with 

 doors only about two feet broad and under two feet 

 in height, so that it is a matter of difficulty for a man 

 of the king's dimensions to get through. A day or 

 two later I again went and asked the king for leave 

 to hunt elephants in his country ; this time he asked 

 me whether I had ever seen an elephant, and upon 

 my saying No, answered, " Oh ! they will soon drive 

 you out of the country, but you may go and see what 

 you can do ! " On my then saying that I had heard 

 that he only allowed people to hunt in certain parts 

 of the country, and asking where I might go, he 



