THE OKAVANGO RIVER 41 



know immediately whether it is worth while to 

 run up the tracks or not. 



One morning the savages were extremely amused 

 at my shooting a hawk with an old shot-gun. 

 This bird, a particularly cheeky beggar, kept 

 making swoops at our meat which was drying on 

 a shrub close to the wagons. A yell from Charlie 

 under the wagon at the critical moment of each 

 swoop caused him to shy off the meat like a rusty 

 beast passing you in a stock-yard, but as the 

 swoops became closer and bolder, Charlie com- 

 plained, " That bird he like the meat, master " ; 

 and after yet another swoop, " That bird he come 

 to spoil our meat." So the judicious use of a 

 shot-gun became necessary. When the hawk fell, 

 there was a rush of astonished natives, puzzled 

 apparently on not finding a bullet hole. 



About the 14th day from Libebe we reached 

 the Luiyanna at Mokoya's kraal, and after fixing 

 up my camp, I paid a visit to the Chief, or " Capi- 

 taine," as they called him. There was something 

 of a Lobengula about the fat old ruffian, who kept 

 up a strict ceremonial, requiring all his men to 

 approach him only on bended knees. Interviews 

 with the Chief were very tedious affairs, and only 

 in a very roundabout way could conversation be 

 carried on. As usual, I asked him if there were 

 lions anywhere about, and tried to get information 

 as to the best route to travel. Mokoya had 

 several modern magazine rifles, including a Lee- 

 Metford and a -375, and, of course, he wanted 



