CHAPTER XXIX 



Hunting for kudu — Jewel-strewn ground — Heat and mosquitoes — A troop 

 of lions — A wounded lioness — A brace of waterbuck — Nearing 

 Metemmeh — A herd of elephants — A magnificent sight — Native 

 sportsmen — Huffalo-hunting. 



As the caravan halted, just below Gallamider, I think 

 every inhabitant of the village came down to welcome 

 us and to stare at the "red man" (as they call a 

 European), for it must have been many a long year since 

 one was seen there. The headman and local shikari, to 

 whom Dedjatch Cubudda had given me a letter, frater- 

 nised with my men round my tent-door and discussed 

 shikar, while I made a leather pouch for a magazine- 

 pistol, which I was determined to have en Evidence and 

 to use, if I met with any interference from outlaws or 

 others. The people told us that there were plenty of 

 buffalo, tora, roan, and kudu in the district, as well as 

 herds of elephants, but that none of the latter carried 

 large tusks. They also said that lions and leopards were 

 to be met with occasionally, and that I should find 

 numerous reedbuck and oribi for the pot. While we 

 were talking, one of Dedjatch Cubudda's followers, armed 

 with a Berdan rifle, joined us, and informed us that he had 

 been in the recent disastrous elephant-hunt and had drawn 



