CHAPTER V 



SWASURI AND THE LEOPARD 



ONE afternoon, in Portuguese East Africa, as we 

 were on our way through the forest to our camp on 

 the Locheringo River and only about two hours 

 distant from our destination, we suddenly heard the 

 sound of excited native voices, not more than a 

 hundred yards away. Our curiosity aroused, we at 

 once turned our steps in the direction of the hubbub, 

 and came upon a score or so of Mataka's men, all 

 armed with muzzle-loading rifles, and, as we learned 

 afterwards, on their way home after raiding a small 

 village on the Rovuma River. They had with 

 them four captives two boys, a woman, and a girl 

 whom they were hustling along like cattle, but 

 with a brutality almost inconceivable to the Euro- 

 pean mind, and so surprised were they at meeting 

 a white man unexpectedly in the heart of the 

 trackless forest, especially in such incriminating 

 circumstances, that they were completely at a loss 



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