VII A BATH OF BLOOD 129 



sight, searching eagerly for small pieces of fat along 

 the backbone and about the kidneys, and bathing in 

 and smearinor themselves all over with the blood. 

 This is a common practice amongst all the natives in 

 the interior of Africa whenever large game, such as 

 elephants or rhinoceroses, are killed, particularly if 

 they happen to be the first of the season. Whether 

 they imagine that this bath of blood gives them 

 courage or not, I cannot say. They do not wash it 

 off again, but let it dry on them and remain there 

 till it gradually wears or gets rubbed off". Up to the 

 time of our arrival on the scene there had been very 

 little progress made at chopping out the tusks, each 

 one having left this part of the business to his 

 companions, and devoted all his own time and 

 attention to securing tit-bits of fat juicy meat and 

 roasting the same over the fire that had been kindled 

 near at hand. Our presence, however, soon changed 

 the aspect of aff'airs, and, at last, by an hour after 

 mid-day, the six tusks were laid side by side, each 

 native had his bundle of meat and fat tied up with 

 strings of bark, and we were once more ready to 

 resume our journey. Had there been water in our 

 immediate vicinity we should have remained and 

 passed the night here, but, the nearest stream being 

 at a considerable distance, we deemed it best to 

 push on. 



A walk of some eight or ten miles through low, 

 sparsely-wooded hills brought us to a small river, 

 and, it being then pretty late, we forthwith made our 

 camp near the summit of a piece of rising ground on 

 its farther side. Of course we had an extra yarn 

 that evening, and, seated round the cheery blaze of 

 the log fire, fought the battle o'er again and killed 

 our game once more. Our native followers, too, 



K 



