124 THROUGH UNKNOWN AFRICAN COUNTRIES. 
dragging off a sheep, as I had occasion to witness. The 
natives sent for me in haste, saying that a crocodile had 
just caught one of their sheep; and indeed, as I arrived 
on the spot, a sheep was being dragged through the fence 
by a monster, amidst a volley of stones from sixty or 
seventy natives. When the huge brute had got his 
sheep into clear water, a great fight took place between 
several crocodiles, under the water, to divide the booty. 
All I could make out were their tails lashing about in the 
foam they created, and nothing more was to be seen of 
the sheep; but after the water had become quiet, several 
heads of crocodiles appeared eagerly watching their oppor- 
tunity to again break through the enclosure. I fired at 
each head as it appeared, but they were too active for me 
to place my bullets accurately; one fellow I hit too far 
forward, causing him to flounder about on top of the 
water as he was washed down the stream, while another 
one sank out of sight on the report of my rifle, evidently 
having been hit in the brain. 
Although I only managed to shoot two of them, the rest 
soon left the spot, much to the joy of the natives, and I 
was able to pass a few hours in a quiet way, collecting and 
map-making. But, as is so often the case in Africa, one 
bit of excitement was not sufficient for the day. In the 
evening, just as we were finishing dinner, we were startled 
by a peculiar yell, sounding through the bushes, — “ Ha-la- 
la-la,” “ Ha-la-la-la,’— and in an instant all the natives were 
in a great state of excitement, running from their villages 
and yelling at the top of their voices. They kept rushing 
toward a grassy plot near the river, and, from what we 
could hear, seemed as though they were having a terrific 
battle. For some time we could make nothing out of the 
chaos of screams and yells; but presently the news came to 
us that the natives had had reports of enemies coming to 
