304 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. 



fell. Though the Batonga army was encamped all 

 around us, they were very orderly, and gave us no 

 trouble whatever. During the night the Shakundas 

 on the island beat their war drum and bade defiance 

 to their enemies, who only listened to them in sullen 

 silence. 



November \^th. — The Batongas now talked no 

 more of peace, but declared they would drive 

 Monteiro and his followers off the island. Small 

 bands of ten or a dozen kept continually coming 

 in from the surrounding kraals, all decked out in 

 war costume. Some of them were, with their large 

 feather head-dresses, as ferocious -looking savages 

 as I have seen, and, barring the head-dresses, about 

 half of them were perfectly stark naked. There 

 was only one gun, an old Portuguese flint-lock, in 

 the entire Batonga army ; but they were very rich 

 in assegais, none carrying less than four, and many 

 of them eight, of these weapons. About lo a.m. 

 the Shakundas were reinforced by about thirty of 

 their people from up the river, who came down to 

 the island in ten canoes. The big war drum was 

 then beaten with more vigour than ever, and all 

 sorts of warlike and defiant antics gone through in 

 sight of the Batongas, who sat squatted in bands 

 under different trees, listening to orations from 

 their different leaders, which, to judge from the 

 violence of the gesticulations, must have breathed 

 nothing but blood, slaughter, and vengeance. For 

 about four hours this sort of thing continued ; but, 

 as there were 500 yards of blue water between 

 the contending parties, and both seemed afraid 

 to act on the offensive, it looked as if the whole 

 thing would end in smoke. At last, about 2 p.m., 

 two Shakundas came across from the island in a 



