198 A POPULAR SONG. 



dishes ; I was also without a fork ; neither, however, were 

 missed by the Kaffirs ; so I was forced to imitate their pro- 

 ceedings. A long strip being cut off the buck, it was laid 

 on the red-hot embers, and was turned occasionally until 

 cooked; a wisp of grass was then put in requisition to 

 hold one end of the meat, while the hot ashes were 

 shaken and knocked off, with a graceful swing of the 

 left hand the other end was caught in the mouth, and 

 held hard until a mouthful was separated with the knife ; 

 the remainder was kept hot until one was ready for a 

 second mouthful. This was certainly not a very elegant 

 way of dining, but still it was most delightfully simple. 

 The Kaffirs seemed to like the flavour that the wood 

 gave to the meat. Not having a taste that way myself, I 

 made use of an iron ramrod to keep the meat from the 

 ashes ; I strung the slices on the ramrod, one end of which 

 I stuck into the ground, and allowed it to bend over the 

 fire at an angle of forty-five degrees, cutting off the bits of 

 meat as they were done. After each of us had eaten as 

 much as would have choked three beings in civilized 

 society, the Kaffirs commenced a song. It was a very 

 popular one in this part, commencing, " Eno baba gofile," 

 with a splendid chorus of " E, yu, yu, yu ; E, yu, yu, yu" 

 It was surprising that no accident happened to any of 

 them, as they shouted at the top of their voices for 

 nearly an hour with a fierce and determined action. Even 

 after my wolf-like repast, the noise was too much for me, 

 and I was about begging them to drop the curtain on 

 their performance, when they suddenly stopped. I looked 

 up and saw the white eyes of a strange Kaffir a few yards 



