HARD TIMES 209 



badly bitten about the head, the worst bites being 

 directly around the throat and eyes. By the 

 light of a fire, which the men hurried to make, 

 I bathed the injuries as quickly as possible, wash- 

 ing the whole head, arms, and shoulders with per- 

 manganate, for the wounds were far too numerous 

 to be dressed individually. Making doubly sure 

 no small scratches had been missed, we made 

 him as comfortable as possible, myself and several 

 askaris lying close at hand by the side of one of 

 the many fires we had kindled. 



Hardly had we finished attending to Henocks- 

 berg, than shrieks and shots from the lower part 

 of the camp told us that the leopard had again 

 attacked. This time he caught an askari, one of 

 the picket, a Kafirondo named " James," seizing 

 him, as before, by the head, despite the fact that 

 the man was in his blankets right alongside the 

 sentry. ;The leopard was, however, on this 

 occasion immediately driven off his prey, and 

 James, not nearly so badly hurt as poor Henocks- 

 berg, escaped with a few nasty bites on the head 

 and one above the eye. As I dressed his wound, 

 the difference between the head of our brother 

 Ethiopian and the head of a white man was 

 made very plain, and the amused, sheepish smile 

 on James's round, good-natured face made me 

 realise why the negro fighter has always held 

 his own in the prize ring from the days of Rich- 

 mond to those of Johnson and Langford. 



The attendance on James being completed, I 

 14 



