A SKIRMISH WITH CANNIBALS 



betrayed a feeling of disappointment as they watched us 

 pass on our journey. A mile further along the path 1 

 looked back and espied half a dozen of them with long 

 spears over their shoulders following us up. Only their 

 heads and shoulders were visible above the tall grass. 

 At the moment it did not strike me as anything excep- 

 tional that they should be behind on the same path ; they 

 were not walking as quickly as ourselves, and being 

 accustomed to seeing occasional natives on the paths, 

 I assumed that they were bound for a hunting trip. 



Shortly afterwards we entered grass which was 

 shoulder high, leaving behind the fields that lay between 

 the travellers and ourselves. In a few minutes I turned 

 round and was surprised to see a head bob down in the 

 grass a few hundred yards away. Again we resumed the 

 journey, again I turned round, and this time I just caught 

 sight of several forms as they ducked their heads down 

 in the grass some one hundred and fifty yards behind us. 

 I knew for certain now that we were being followed, and 

 this game of jack-in-the-box was kept up for about half an 

 hour. Presently when in the centre of a patch of matamma 

 so tall that it hung over our heads, and so dense that it 

 was impossible to see more than a few feet either way, 

 I was electrified by a series of blood-curdling shrieks 

 and the clash of a pail as it fell to the ground. Instantly 

 turning round, and taking three steps back, I beheld 

 Karetese in agony. In his left armpit was an arrow with 

 several inches of head and shaft embedded in the flesh. 

 Forgetting that it was barbed like a fish-hook, I gave a 

 furious heave, and withdrew it from the wound ; it was 

 like pulling the plug out of a tap, for the blood spurted 

 out in a stream all over my shirt and shorts. Some 

 flesh was clinging to the barbs, and the poor boy's shrieks 

 were terrible to listen to. My other boys became almost 

 panic stricken, but I warned them not to move from where 

 they stood, for the natives were all round at no great 



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