CHAPTER XXXI 



SOME PECULIAR FOODS 



WHEN I shoot an elephant within reasonable 

 distance of a village, I usually send a couple of 

 messengers there to purchase food for my men, and 

 eggs and fowls for my own consumption. Shortly, 

 after their return, the headman of the village 

 usually appears on the scene, accompanied by his 

 wives and a horde of men, women and children, all 

 elated at the prospect of gorging themselves to 

 repletion with nyama (meat). On their arrival, 

 my men are perhaps busy cutting out the tusks, so 

 they stand aside and await the conclusion of this 

 operation, which is a tedious work, requiring trained 

 men, for it must be remembered that two to three 

 feet of these enormous teeth are embedded in the 

 skull, and that in extracting them, one careless 

 stroke with an axe may chip the tusk and 

 diminish its value. On the completion of the 

 task, all the natives set to with a will, and, ere long, 

 the Carcase is being quickly hacked to pieces. 



