African Buffalo Shooting. 169 



sale the humped oxen of India drawn up in line, 

 and all you had to do was to select one. Your choice 

 being made, it was felled at once and its throat cat, 

 and before life was extinct it was half flayed ! The 

 price was a trifle so many yards of cloth for so much 

 meat ; I forget now how much it was. I chose two 

 fine humps, had them properly taken off, took two 

 tongues, marrow-bones and a fine sirloin a load 

 which the Lagos man objected to carry, so girls were 

 pressed into my service. I also found an abundance 

 of bringals (egg-plant), eggs, fowls, large Muscovy 

 ducks, plantains, ripe and unripe, chilies and other 

 tropical vegetables. As for fruit, there were quantities 

 of mangoes and guavas, and very fine they were of 

 their kind. I went back in triumph, for my friends 

 had been starving almost, subsisting on tinned 

 meats in the midst of plenty. The only drawback 

 was that the weather was too hot for keeping meat, 

 and w T e had no vessels large enough for salting 

 purposes. None of the others had ever tasted a hump, 

 although L. had been in the army, but his experience 

 did not extend to luxurious India. He knew South 

 Africa well, and it was he who first conveyed the 

 news of the disaster at Islandwalla to Lord Chelmsford. 

 I had brought a couple of dozen of Madeira wine with 

 me. This did not last long amongst so many, and 

 when expended we had to fall back upon the not 

 over-wholesome waters of the stream. L. had un- 

 limited command of money, and authority to provide 

 what was requisite for the welfare of the Europeans, 

 but he seemed dazed, and had never been the same 

 man I was told, after the gruesome sight of the 

 Zulu carnage. The recruiting was a farce. Any one 



