176 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. 



yards from the mainland. In the evenhig I shot a 

 lechwe antelope, a young ram, and the first of this 

 species I had yet bagged. This I gave to the 

 villagers, who in return gave me some splendid fish, 

 a sort of perch, just caught or speared. These fried 

 in elephant's fat were delicious and a real treat. 



Shortly after dark we heard a black rhinoceros 

 drinking on the mainland, and snorting violently 

 every now and then. After a bit he retired and all 

 was once more still ; not for long, however, for it 

 was soon evident, from the splashing and occasional 

 trumpeting, that a large herd of elephants were 

 drinking and bathing themselves just opposite our 

 island, and not 500 yards from us. 



The next day was Sunday, but believing that " the 

 better the day, the better the deed," I followed the 

 elephants, and came up to them about mid -day. 

 There were no bulls amongst them, but some of the 

 cows had fine long white tusks. Suffice it to say that 

 I killed four of them, every scrap of meat and all the 

 bones of which were carried by the Makubas to their 

 island during the three following days. This meat 

 was a godsend to these poor people, who, being 

 refugees from the Barotse valley, had no corn, and 

 were only eking out a precarious subsistence on fish, 

 palm nuts, and some aquatic plants. The feasting 

 and dancing that were carried on night after night 

 as long as I remained here, vouched for the capacity 

 of their stomachs, the lightness of their hearts, and 

 the untiring vigour of their limbs — both legs and 

 arms ; and I think that the advent of the fair-skinned 

 stranger, who supplied them with such an abundance 

 of meat, and what they prize above all earthly bless- 

 ings, fat, will ever be remembered by them with 

 feelings of unmitigated pleasure. 



