NATIVE SUPERSTITION. 85 
all but a small crescent nearest the horizon, covered 
with a dingy, smoky shadow. It was an eclipse. 
I asked John what it was. He said, ' Smoke.' The 
moment it was shown to Macloule he uttered a cry 
of conjuration, as it were, and rushing out with a 
brand, threw it in the direction of the moon. His 
explanation is that we shall hear something ; all the 
hunters out in the veldt will now return home to 
hear the news. People are looking at it in Gubule- 
weyo, England, everywhere. It is a custom, it seems, 
at all the kraals, when an eclipse is seen, for the people 
to rush out and throw brands, shouting at the same 
time. When I suggested a shadow on the moon, he 
dismissed the suggestion summarily, and when asked 
to explain the appearance by any other cause, said 
the moon was changing colour. As the eclipse pro- 
gressed, I pointed out to him that the shadow kept 
rising, and more and more of the moon becoming 
visible, but he only said, ' It looks bad now.' I 
looked through the telescope, as it was nearly 
over, to note the exact time of the shadow passing 
away. Echle took a hasty glance through it, and 
turned away quickly, saying he did not like to 
see it." 
By the middle of November, when they left their 
second camp, so much rain was already falling that 
hunting became difficult, and a return to Gubule- 
weyo was decided on. Starting back, therefore, on 
the return journey on November i6th, they reached 
Inyati, travelling slowly, on the 23d. Here Frank 
