138 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. 



Their canoes are simply logs roughly hollowed out 

 and rounded off at the ends, and are very crank- 

 looking craft ; they are usually paddled by two 

 natives, one in the bow and the other in the stern, 

 and will not carry more than one passenger, who 

 sits in the middle. 



Along the banks of the river about here we found 

 that the natives had dug a great number of pitfalls, 

 about ten feet in depth, to entrap hippopotami, 

 elephants, or buffaloes, which, being always placed 

 in the pathways made by these animals, and neatly 

 covered over with dry grass, are most difficult to 

 detect, even when one knows there are such things 

 about ; but the unconscious traveller, ignorant of 

 anything of the sort, is almost sure to be engulfed 

 in one of them sooner or later. This happened to 

 two of our party, neither of whom, luckily, was in 

 any way hurt, after which we adopted the plan of 

 letting one of the Kafirs walk in front, who gave us 

 due notice of their whereabouts, by either uncovering 

 them with an assegai or falling into them, an example 

 which we were, of course, careful not to follow. 



But all this time the season was fast advancing, 

 and it behoved us to push on in search of elephants ; 

 so on Tuesday evening we held a council of war, in 

 order to decide to what part of the country we should 

 next direct our steps. Like the celebrated house 

 mentioned in the Bible, we were divided amongst 

 ourselves. Wood wishing to turn back and strike 

 through the hills eastward to the country near the 

 river Gwai, where he and I had made so successful 

 a hunt the preceding year, whilst I myself was bent 

 upon following the Zambesi to the westwards, hoping 

 to meet with a hunter's paradise in the unknown 

 country in that direction, and Mr. Garden and his 



