72 moloka's valuable services. 



dently hit her (though where I don't know), for she ut- 

 tered a piercing roar, and scrambled slowly away up the 

 hill. Taking the second gun from Moloka I descended 

 the bank to the watercourse, crossed it, and ran up 

 the hill as fast as I could, but could see nothing of the 

 lioness. I then took up her tracks and found the 

 ground covered with blood. Darkness now set in, and 

 compelled me to return to camp, hoping to be able to 

 recover the lioness next morning. 



On my arrival in camp it turned out that the Mako- 

 lolo, who had been smoking bang all day, were 

 once more wavering, but Moloka soon squared them 

 again. Still these men were very uncertain. Indeed, it 

 was not until the sun rose on us the following morn- 

 ing (31st), as we pulled up the river, that we knew 

 whether they meant to accompany us or not. For- 

 tunately they all came, and their doing so may be en- 

 tirely attributed to Moloka, their chief, a man who 

 has since proved himself in every way far superior to 

 the rest. 



It was scarcely five o'clock on the morning of the 

 last day of August, when we left Pamafunda. I was 

 much vexed at having to leave the wounded lioness, 

 but it could not be helped. The river here widens 

 gradually into a broad and deep stream, free from 

 sandbanks, and with much less current than we have 

 had up to the present. 



Just as we were starting with more in the boat 

 than it could carry with comfort, there being twelve 

 Makololo, the two interpreters, and four Europeans, 

 eighteen in all, three of the Makololo had the cheek 

 to say that thev each wished to brinor ^ servant with 



