144 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. 



shot a water-buck bull, about three parts grown, and 

 although the meat of this species of antelope is very- 

 coarse and ill-flavoured, we found its marrow bones 

 exceedingly good, and they proved a welcome addition 

 to our supper. The next day was Saturday (July 4), 

 our fourth day since leaving the falls, and shortly 

 after noon we reached "Umparira," the town I have 

 before mentioned as situated just at the junction of 

 the Chobe and Zambesi rivers. We here found two 

 Griqua hunters in the service of Mr. Westbeech, and 

 as they were thinking of returning in a few days to 

 his waggons, at Pandamatenka, I persuaded them to 

 take the head and horns of the koodoo I had shot a 

 few days before with them, giving them at the same 

 time a letter to their " Baas," begging him to be 

 kind enough to forward them to my own waggons 

 at Daka at the first opportunity. These Griquas 

 told us they had killed an elephant bull close at hand 

 that very morning, and had only just returned from 

 it. This elephant was one of four that had come 

 down in the night and drunk only a few hundred 

 yards from their camp ; being apprised of which fact 

 by some natives, who had found the fresh spoor, they 

 followed them into the dense bush close to the river, 

 and coming up with them, broke the shoulder of one 

 at the first discharge, and finally killed him. This, 

 they said, was the first elephant they had killed this 

 season, as having suffered severely from fever they 

 were still very weak, and consequently unable to do 

 much hunting. One of them, Jacob Ourson by 

 name, told us he had been some distance up the Chobe 

 the preceding year, and gave us some information 

 about the country. He said the sand-ridges along 

 the river were covered with dense jungle, in which, 

 last year, he had found elephants plentiful, and 



