CHAPTER VIII 



VICIOUS ELEPHANTS AND A CANTANKEROUS BUPTALO 



AN elephant seldom makes an unprovoked attack 

 on a human being, but I should like to give two out 

 of several instances of such attacks that have 

 occurred to my own knowledge. 



Once, when we were in the neighbourhood of the 

 Lukumbuli stream, one of my men, Njerembo by 

 name, fell in love with a handsome, flashing-eyed 

 beauty, called Asalie, and his affection being recipro- 

 cated, preparations were set on foot for their 

 wedding, but, alas, fate had decreed that no such 

 happy event was to take place ! A few days before 

 the wedding, the girl and her parents made a 

 journey to a neighbouring village to buy some fowls 

 for the wedding feast, and one can imagine Asalie 

 setting out on this auspicious occasion with all the 

 suppressed excitement that a maid must feel at the 

 approach of such a momentous event in her life. 

 Probably, to this child of nature, with emotions un- 

 spoilt by any of the trammelling influences of 



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