NORTH-WESTERN RHODESIA 25 



of strong lungs, and breaks on the air after the 

 single voice like the ninth wave on a rock-bound 

 coast — " Yes, the Bwana will kill a buffalo ! " 

 For long the haunting melody of this refrain 

 fell on my ears, and then the dancers again broke 

 into a maddened swirl wherein passion and lust 

 were the keynotes of the rhythm. Then again 

 a chant concerning the wild beasts of the forest 

 and the "dambo," or clearing in the bush, and 

 afterwards a play in which the dramatis personae 

 were two Walonga hunters and two other natives, 

 the one with my water-buck horns on his head 

 and the other with a similar headgear in the shape 

 of a hartebeeste skull and horns. Round and 

 round crept the pseudo-antelopes; and round 

 and round them crept the hunters with spears 

 upraised and ready to kill. At last one Nimrod 

 came up silently behind the water-buck and thrust 

 at him with the great blade gleaming in the fire- 

 light. Down fell the actor, still clenching his 

 horns, and he grovelled and rolled as his slayer 

 plunged again at him with the assegai. The 

 hartebeeste shared a similar fate, and then a 

 roar of applause burst from the onlookers, 

 especially from the direction of the women and 

 children, who evidently thought this the piece de 

 resistance of the entertainment. Once more 

 Luvembe's people broke into a chant, and then 

 the drums beat fast and furious, and then silence, 

 all-pervading and absolute; and presently the 

 moon looked down on a cluster of grass-thatched 

 huts and a score of calico-clad forms huddled 

 together 'twixt logs and ashes, for the night was 

 a cold one. I wended my way back to my tent 

 and fell asleep, but not before I seemed once 

 again to see the writhing bodies half enveloped 

 in the flames, and once again to hear the roar of 



