A BOAT VOYAGE ON THE ZAMBESI./ 55 



bite is sometimes painful when it touches a nerve; but these are so few and far 

 between that they are hardly noticed. -"/ 



! \ Next day I was lucky enough to shoot a bushbuck which tried to swim the river. 

 Some natives had been hunting it on the bank, and we saw it take the water. 



As I would not have got it but for the natives, I presented them with a leg, 

 at which they seemed delighted, as I suppose they expected nothing. In the evening 

 I shot another crocodile, which the boatmen kept for eating. Most of the Zambesi 

 tribes eat crocodiles and snakes. 



When the men were happy they used to sing as they poled or paddled along, and 

 in the quiet of evening the sound was not unpleasing, for natives have often good 

 voices. Over the camp fire, in the evenings, one man used to play the marimba very 

 well. This native musical instrument is simply made from a hollow gourd, with a 

 piece of hard wood tied tightly on, which forms the keyboard. The keys are made of 

 rough hammered native iron. Their repertoire of tunes is not great, but any music 

 sounds pleasant on a still night in the wilds of Africa. About 4 p.m. every day a 

 strong, easterly breeze used to get up, and this helped the pace a bit. I remember, 

 coming down-stream, having often to stop on account of this wind, which used to 

 raise quite a sea, against which the men could not paddle or pole. 



I reached a likely-looking country for game on the 12th, so I stopped and went 

 ashore with a few of the men. 



We had not been walking long when we saw a ram bushbuck feeding. I ought 

 to have killed it, as it presented an easy shot ; but I was using a new rifle, which I 

 did not know well. Instead of hitting it in the shoulder, I only broke one of its hind 

 legs, and had to chase it for some distance before I managed to bag it. Sending 

 men off with it to the boat, I went on, and after going some considerable way, spotted 

 a herd of impala rams. I managed, with a little difficulty, to get within eighty yards 

 of them, and this time made a better shot, for I killed the best beast in the herd. 



Bringing along the impala, we went back to the boat, where I had lunch, while 

 the men cut up the meat and stowed it away, for future use, in the bottom of the boat. 



The following day I came on a herd of hippos, which were tamer than one would 

 expect to find here, as they have been much persecuted for some years. The 

 Portuguese whom I lunched with at Mutarara had told me to shoot as many hippo as 

 I could, as they had been upsetting boats lately, and a few natives had been drowned. 

 It is a shame shooting at them from boats or steamers, for it is quite difficult enough 

 hitting them in the right place from a steady position on land. Most of the people 

 who blaze away at hippos have not the faintest idea of where to hit them, nor is it 

 possible to judge distance correctly from a boat. There is hardly an old hippo left in 



