462 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. 



creatures would bring more joy to the hearts of 

 these poor but voracious heathen, than all the tracts 

 and Bibles ever published for their benefit. The 

 following day we devoted to cutting up and drying 

 the meat. Lo Magondi sent messengers to his 

 towns to call the people to come and assist, and 

 bring meal, ground-nuts, etc., with them. I gave 

 him three of the sea-cows entire, and besides this, 

 his people bought all the leaner portions of the other 

 two from our boys, for meal and ground-nuts. We 

 now revelled in comparative luxury ; the fresh sea- 

 cow meat was really most delicious, very rich in 

 flavour and withal tender and juicy, and the amount 

 of it that we got outside of was really astonishing. 

 We were also enabled to melt out two large calabashes 

 full of soft white lard, which kept us in fat cookies 

 (unleavened cakes of meal and water baked in fat) 

 until we got back to the waggons. Whilst I was 

 attending to the distribution of the meat, Jameson 

 took a stroll up the river, and I soon afterwards 

 heard him fire. 



When he returned he told me he had found a 

 huge old hippopotamus bull lying high and dry on 

 an island in the middle of the river, and as he 

 wanted a fine pair of teeth had fired at him ; upon 

 which the brute had plunged into the river and got 

 round to the other side of the island, where he 

 remained out of sight. He had also shot a large 

 crocodile, which had tumbled into the water, 

 apparently writhing about in its death-agony. 



However, I advised him not to inquire further 

 into the matter, as the Matabele are very superstitious 

 about this animal, believing that any one possessed 

 of its liver is able to bewitch other people, and play 

 the devil generally ; and it was as likely as not that 



