SECOND EXPEDITION TO SOUTH AFRICA 115 
abnormal and interesting peculiarities of a beetle, which had 
- an extra tarsus—at least I think that was the peculiarity—and 
that tarsus was actually fimbriated! A great deal of very 
learned talk and discussion followed, and I thought what a 
_ fortunate fellow I was to have written my description ; but 
alas! my turn came, and the same savant, after holding my 
scrawl at every angle in the hope of deciphering the cacography, 
at last gave it up, saying he regretted he could not make it out, 
but fortunately the writer was in the room, and would perhaps 
_ kindly tell them the history of the flies of which he had sent 
a specimen. I longed for a repetition of the days of Korah, 
Dathan, and Abiram just to swallow up that old gentleman 
and his scarabzeus ; but I had to get up and explain that I was 
_ sorry if they expected me to address them in the very erudite 
_ way I had been listening to for the last hour, as I really had 
no idea how many (if any) tarsi my fly had, and, moreover, I 
_ was supremely ignorant whether their tarsi (if existent) were 
_ fimbriated or not. They kindly begged me to tell my tale in 
_ my own words, declaring they should much prefer it, and I 
' did so, and was dealt with in a most friendly manner. I cer- 
tainly would rather have stood the charge of a couple of lions 
at once than laid myself open to a catechism on tarsi and 
fimbriz. 
We pushed down the Limpopo beyond the Siloquana ridge 
_ four or five marches, and then crossing the river near a high 
_ rocky hill returned to the Mariqué without anything of much 
a interest occurring ; but half-way between the junction of that 
4 river with the main stream and the place where we left it 
_ to get to Livingstone’s station, I was again in trouble. 
_ It was three in the afternoon. We had followed a herd of 
_ elephants since 8 a.m., and the traces of the dew of the pre- 
-vious night were still visible on the trail. Our chances of 
“coming up with them were so small that we abandoned the 
" pursuit and turned in the direction of the waggons. After an 
or two the natives began to make pathetic appeals to the 
e of their stomachs, suggesting that they had met with hard 
I2 
