90 ACROSS AFRICA. [Chap. 



July, Ij ; and, being anxious for a shot at one, we used the carcass of 

 ^^'^•^' a donkey which had died of a low fever as bait. This attract- 

 ed a large spotted brute, with a jaw strong enough to break the 

 bone of a horse's hind leg, and he was shot by Dillon. 



The yells of the hyenas excited our dogs to such an extent 

 that we were obliged to fasten them up at night to prevent 

 their bolting out of camp and getting killed. 



I took a few lunars here, and found that they and my dead- 

 reckoning agreed well, and, though a little different from 

 Speke's longitude, his latitudes coincided exactly with mine. 



Having pardoned the offenders whom I had put in chains, 

 and received promises of better conduct in future, we left here 

 on the 9th of July, and, after two hours across level country, ar- 

 rived at a steep and rocky ascent which gave us an hour's hard 

 climbing. The summit was table-land, well-wooded and grassy, 

 with numerous pools, some partially dried up ; and in all direc- 

 tions there were fresh tracks of elephants and other large game. 



When evening came, having fitted paper night-sights to our 

 rifles, we sallied out to one of the jjools, and, ensconcing our- 

 selves behind some bushes, spent about three hours vainly hop- 

 ing that game worthy of our lead might come to drink ; but we 

 saw only a few skulking hyenas, at which we would not fire, for 

 fear of frightening a possible elephant. 



Our next march was to Usekhe, the village of another inde- 

 pendent chief, and, consequently, the place for another demand 

 for mliongo. But I need not recaj^itulate the vexatious delays 

 which occurred at the villages of each of these petty tyrants, 

 through the drunkenness of themselves and their advisers. 



On this march, jungle gradually gave way to large granite 

 bowlders scattered among the trees, and afterward there ap- 

 peared a range of hills composed of masses of granite of most 



