326 THE WORLD'S WOXDKHS. 



turned with a shriek of rage, and made a furious charge bacK 

 among the men. They vanished at right angles to her course, or 

 sideways, and, as she ran straight on, she went through the 

 whole part}'-, hut came near no one except a man who wore a 

 piece of cloth on his shoulders. Bright clothing is always dan- 

 gerous in these cases. She charged three or four times, and, 

 except in the first instance, never went farther than 100 yards. 

 She often stood after she had crossed a rivulet, and faced the 

 men, though she received fresh spears. It was by this process 

 of spearing and loss of blood that she was killed ; for at last, 

 making a short charge, she staggered round and sank down dead 

 in a kneeling posture. 



ADVENTURES WITH WILD ANIMALS. 



CHANGING his course to get back to the Zambesi river, Living- 

 stone reached a great plain covered with broad-leaved bushes, in 

 which he found elephants so numerous that several times he had 

 to shout and fire his gun in order to frighten them out of the 

 path so as to enable his party to get through. At an open space 

 a herd of buffaloes came trotting up to the oxen, and were only 

 driven away after Livingstone had shot one of their number. 

 The elephants are generally good natured, but at one place a 

 female with three young ones of different sizes charged through 

 the centre of the extended line and produced a panic ; one of the 

 men was courageous enough, however, to thrust a spear into her 

 side which caused her to retreat without doing any injury. 



Along the Zambesi Livingstone found enormous flocks of 

 water-fowl, chiefly geese and ducks, which, having never been 

 hunted were exceedingly tame, and might have been killed with 

 stones. This great game country, which perhaps excels that of 

 any other section of Africa, was near the conjunction of the 

 Kaf ue with the Zambesi river. 



DUPERSTITION RESPECTING ALBINOS. 



OCCASIONALLY white or albino children are born in Africa, and 

 they are regarded with dread and superstition. Livingstone 

 relates that during the time he resided at Mabotsa, a woman 



