THE SPOTTED HY^NA. 643 



would engage. A certain part of the elephant belonged to him by 

 right of the office he held, and such was the faith in medicine held 

 by the slaves of the Portuguese whom we met hunting, that they 

 offered to pay this man handsomely if he would show them the 

 elephant medicine. 



When near Mosusa's village we passed a rivulet called Chowe, 

 now running with rain-water. The inhabitants there extract a 

 little salt from the sand when it is dry, and all the people of the 

 adjacent country come to purchase it from them. This was the 

 first salt we had met with since leaving Angola, for none is to be 

 found in either the country of the Balonda or Barotse ; but we 

 heard of salt-pans about a fortnight west of Naliele, and I got a 

 small supply from Mpololo while there. That had long since 

 been finished, and I had again lived two months without salt, suf- 

 fering no inconvenience except an occasional longing for animal 

 food or milk. 



In marching along, the rich reddish-brown soil was so clammy 

 that it was very difficult to walk. It is, however, extremely fer- 

 tile, and the people cultivate amazing quantities of corn, maize, 

 millet, ground-nuts, pumpkins, and cucumbers. We observed 

 that, when plants failed in one spot, they were in the habit of trans- 

 planting them into another, and they had also grown large num- 

 bers of young plants on the islands, where they are favored by 

 moisture from the river, and were now removing them to the main 

 land. The fact of their being obliged to do this shows that there 

 is less rain here than in Londa, for there we observed the grain in 

 all stages of its growth at the same time. 



The people here build their huts in gardens on high stages. 

 This is necessary on account of danger from the spotted hysena, 

 which is said to be very fierce, and also as a protection against 

 lions and elephants. The hysena is a very cowardly animal, 

 but frequently approaches persons lying asleep, and makes an 

 ugly gash on the face. Mozinkwa had lost his upper lip in this 

 way, and I have heard of men being killed by them ; children, 

 too, are sometimes carried off ; for, though he is so cowardly that 

 the human voice will make him run away at once, yet, when his 

 teeth are in the flesh, he holds on, and shows amazing power of 

 jaw. Leg-bones of oxen, from which the natives have extracted 

 the marrow and every thing eatable, are by this animal crunched 



