RESULTS OF THE HUNT. 307 



fumes. Large volumes of smoke are emitted through 

 the nostrils, while a copious flow of tears from the eyes 

 of the smoker evinces the pleasure he enjoys. One of 

 these pipes will serve a large party, who replenish the 

 bowl and relieve one another in succession. 



The natives, having drawn their breath, once more 

 devote their attention to the flesh, which they next re- 

 duce to biltongue, cutting every morsel into thin strips 

 from six to twenty feet in length. These strips are of 

 the breadth and thickness of a man's two fingers. When 

 all is reduced to biltongue, they sally forth with their 

 tomahawks, and cut down a number of poles of two 

 sorts, for uprights and cross-poles. The uprights are 

 eight feet long, and forked at one end. They place 

 them upright in the ground aroa-nd their respective 

 trees, laying the cross-poles resting on the forks, and 

 these are adorned with endless garlands of the raw 

 meat, which is permitted to hang in the sun for two or 

 three days, when it will have lost much of its weight, 

 and be stiff" and easy to be carried. They then remove 

 the biltongue from the poles, and, folding it together, 

 they form it into bundles, which are strongly lashed 

 and secured v/ith long strips of the tough inner bark 

 of thorny mimosas. Their work in the forest is now 

 completed, and, each man placing one bundle on his 

 head, and slinging several others across his shoulders, 

 returns to his wife and family at head-quarters. 



The appearance which the flesh of a single elephant 

 exhibits when reduced to strips and suspended from the 

 poles is truly, surprising, the forest far around display- 

 ing a succession of ruby festoons, and reminding one of 

 a vineyard laden with its clustering fruits. When the 

 skull of my elephant was ready for the ax, Mutchuisho 

 caused a party to hew out for me the tusks — a work of 



