2IO MATABELE LAND. 
depth too must have been an affair of inches. Of 
course this hole penetrated into the substance of the 
brain, and probably for some distance. I dare say 
a mouse could have sat in it. 
" His voice was weak, but he evidently enjoyed 
his supper and the warmth of the fire. My boys 
said he was a ' wolf — the term applied to outlaws 
— and that he ought to be killed or driven away. 
He told me that it was five days since he had been 
set upon ; and that, after he had been left for dead, 
he got up and ran away on coming to himself He 
wanted to go under my protection to the Zambesi, 
an honour, however, which I declined, but I gave 
him a blanket and some things to buy food with, 
and told him he must go next morning, and advised 
him to make for Mungwato. He asked for a pipe, 
and for a drink of brandy, which reminded me of Old 
King Cole ; and if he had been given to amusing 
himself by listening to the violin, I have no doubt 
he would have asked for a tune, as he seemed dis- 
posed to take things very philosophically. I poured 
some arnica and water into the hole, and when he 
lifted up his head a perfect stream of it ran down 
his back. He said if he was not killed he should 
see me at Mungwato when I returned. I believe he 
did reach Mungwato alive, but I don't know whether 
he remained there.^ 
''A perfectly favourable communication having 
^ In June the following year, this man was seen by Mr. Gilchrist — 
whose journey into the interior is related in the concluding chapter 
of this narrative — living near Rustenberg, in the Transvaal, apparently 
in perfect health. 
