AFRICAN CAMP FIRES 



might get over his scare, I added: "The power of 

 this magic is three days." 



They departed very much impressed. A little 

 later Memba Sasa and I followed them. The 

 manyatta was most picturesquely placed atop the 

 conical hill at the foot of the valley. From its eleva- 

 tion we could see here and there in the distance the 

 variegated blotches of red and white and black that 

 represented the cattle herds. Innumerable flocks of 

 sheep and goats, under charge of the small boys and 

 youths, fed nearer at hand. The low smooth-plas- 

 tered huts, with their abattis of thorn bush between, 

 crowned the peak like a chaplet. Outside it sat 

 a number of elders sunning themselves, and several 

 smiling, good-natured young women, probably the 

 spoiled darlings of these plutocrats. One of these 

 damsels spoke Swahili, so we managed to exchange 

 compliments. They told us exactly when and how 

 the lion had gone. Three nimble old gentlemen 

 accompanied us when we left. They were armed 

 with spears; and they displayed the most extra- 

 ordinary activity, skipping here and there across 

 the ravines and through the brush, casting huge 

 stones into likely cover, and generally making 

 themselves ubiquitous. However, we did not come 

 up with the lion. 



In our clinic that evening appeared one of the 



350 



