214 THE OX "SINBAD." 



powder at our sleeping-place, and went back several miles 

 for it. My clothing being wet from crossing a stream, 1 

 was compelled to wait for him : had I been moving in the 

 sun I should have felt no harm ; but the inaction led to a 

 violent fit of fever. The continuance of this attack was a 

 source of much regret ; for we went on next day to a small 

 rivulet called Chihune, in a lovely valley, and had, for a 

 wonder, a clear sk}^ and a clear moon ; but such was the 

 confusion produced in my mind by the state of my body, 

 that I could scarcely manage, after some hours' trial, to 

 get a lunar observation in which I could repose confidence. 

 The Chihune flows into the Longe, and that into the Chi- 

 hdmbo, a feeder of the Kasai. Those who know the diffi- 

 culties of taking altitudes, times, and distances, and com- 

 mitting all of them to paper, will sympathize with me in 

 this and many similar instances. While at Chihune, the 

 men of a village brought wax for sale, and, on finding that 

 we wished honey, went off and soon brought a hive. , All 

 the bees in the country are in possession of the natives; 

 for they place hives sufficient for them all. After having 

 ascertained this, we never attended the call of the honey- 

 guide, for we were sure it would ouly lead us to a hive 

 which we had no right to touch. The bird continues its 

 habit of inviting attention to the honey, though its ser- 

 vices in this district are never actually needed. My 

 Makololo lamented that they never knew before that wax 

 could be sold for any thing of value. 



In passing through these narrow paths I had an oppoi*- 

 tunity of observing the peculiarities of my ox " Sinbad." 

 He had a softer back than the others, but a much more 

 intractable temper. His horns were bent downward and 

 hung loosely, so he could do no harm with them; but, aa 

 we wended our way slowly along the narrow path, he 

 would suddenly dart aside. A string tied to a stick put 

 through the cartilage of the nose serves instead of a bridle : 

 if you jerk this back, it makes him run faster on ; if you 

 pull it to one side, he allows the nose and head to go, but 



