A Fine Impala Ram Shot. 135 



The natives use many herbs as a relish to their daily 

 food of ufa porridge, and they are extremely fond of 

 salt. 



In the dry season they collect great quantities of honey, 

 and when they secure it free of extraneous matter it is very 

 nice. It is hardly as strong as heather country, but darker 

 than the ordinary white honey seen in Britain. They keep 

 the wax after chewing all the sweetness out of it, and the 

 Angoni used to use it for polishing the headrings that all 

 the principal men \vore. I believe they first made the 

 rings of hair, and they coated them with beeswax and 

 polished them round. The Zulus of the South wear these 

 rings, and the fact that the Matabele do so, as well as the 

 Angoni, shows their Zulu origin. 



I remember while at Mzaza spending several days in 

 trying to shoot a very nice impala ram that used to be with 

 a herd. He was a particularly wary animal, considering 

 that impala are not as a rule difficult to shoot. He usually 

 kept on the safe side of the big herd ; and as soon as 

 danger was seen, for they seldom got my wind as I took 

 care of that, he was off with a jump. At last I got him 

 with a difficult shot I had to place between the forks of a 

 large tree, and he ran off and fell in the grass some sixty 

 yards away. He had not exceptionally long horns as they 

 only measured i8in. on the curve, but they were pretty and 

 wide set. 



Several fine waterbuck heads have been shot in the 

 vicinity of the Luangwa River, although the best out of a 

 large number I have killed only measured 28^in. on the 

 curve. I have tried my best to get good heads ; and, 

 although I have managed to get a few better than the 

 average, I have not had the luck to shoot anything near 

 the record, except a small Sharpens steinbuck which comes 

 second, I think. 



I would rather shoot the record buffalo than any other 

 species, as the animal ranks as dangerous game, and a 

 buffalo head, with its gnarled, rough appearance, is certainly 

 one of the best trophies that can be got in Africa. 



