600 THE SPOTTED HY.ENA. Chap. XXIX. 



declined, none of tliem 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 hand- 

 somely, 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. Tins 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, suffering 

 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 fertile, 

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

 ground-nuts, pumpkins, and cucumbers. We observed that, when 

 plants failed hi one spot, they were in the habit of transplanting 

 them into another, and they had also grown large numbers of 

 young plants on the islands, where they are favoured by moisture 

 from the river, and were now removing them to the mainland. 

 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. 

 Tins is necessary on account of danger from the spotted hyaena, 

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

 lions and elephants. The hyaena 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 tins 

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

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

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

 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 everything eatable, are by this animal crunched 



