NATIVE WAYS OF HUNTING 220 



bring him back to camp, and guide him in forest 

 ways and law, till he can guide himself. Then 

 take your gun-boy or guide, and deal with him 

 kindly ; in most things he is a good fellow, \vhether 

 he comes from the East or West, South or Central 

 Africa. A cheerful liar, mostly faithful, and quite 

 a man to deal with, if it is a man he serves. He 

 is much what you make him, and sometimes 

 better than his master, though often naked and 

 unarmed. Amongst his simple lies, and fantasies 

 of spooks and devils, you will learn much on 

 jungle law, and the ways and tales of jungle beasts, 

 traps and trapping, and much else. 



He will show you the fetish obtained from the 

 witch doctor, which ensures success in hunting ; 

 perhaps the little horn of an antelope filled with 

 magic things, which he will rub on his spear or 

 arrow, or old tower musket. Then he may take 

 you to a famous hunter's grave, covered over with 

 the dead man's trophies, where he comes some- 

 times to make an offering to the hunter's spirit 

 for luck in hunting, and then, taking earth from 

 the ground, rubs his gun or spear to give it power. 

 If near some wanted elephant, your man may even 

 stop at some fetish tree to make a sacrifice, and 

 ask the spirit of the forest to help you both to kill 

 the tusker. 



When the native knows you better, he may 

 lake you to see the pit in which he catches game, 

 dug in the only path left open to his garden, and 

 so craftily covered over that even the wary buck 

 may not see it ; or to the side of a river or pool 

 and show you the snares he has set for the birds 



