608 GAME-LAWS— HYAENAS. Chap. XXX. 



the only thing I had in their behalf, and the elephant soon fell." 

 One of Nyampungo's men who remained with me, ran a little 

 forward, when an opening in the trees gave us a view of the 

 chase, and uttered loud prayers for success in the combat. I 

 admired the devout belief they all possessed in the actual exist- 

 ence of unseen beings, and prayed that they might yet know 

 that benignant One who views us all as His own. My own 

 people, who are rather a degraded lot, remarked to me as I 

 came up, "God gave it to us. He said to the old beast, 'Go 

 up there ; men are come who will kill and eat you.' " These 

 remarks are quoted to give the reader an idea of the native 

 mode of expression. 



A.S we were now in the countiy of stringent game-laws, we 

 were obliged to send all the way back to Nyampungo, to give 

 information to a certain person who had been left there by the 

 real owner of tins district to watch over liis property, the owner 

 himself living near the Zambesi. The side upon which the ele- 

 phant fell, had a short broken tusk ; the upper one, which was 

 ours, was large and thick. The Banyai remarked on our good 

 luck. The men sent to give notice, came back late in the after- 

 noon of the following day. They brought a basket of com, a 

 fowl, and a few strings of handsome beads, as a sort of thank- 

 offering for our having killed it on their land, and said they had 

 thanked the Barimo besides for our success, adding " There it is ; 

 eat it and be glad." Had we begun to cut it up before we got 

 tins permission, we should have lost the whole. They had brought 

 a large party to eat their half, and they divided it with us in a 

 friendly way. My men were delighted with the feast, though, by 

 lying unopened a whole day, the carcase was pretty far gone. 

 An astonishing number of hysenas collected round, and kept up 

 a loud laughter for two whole nights. Some of them do make 

 a very good imitation of a laugh. I asked my men what the 

 hyaenas were laughing at ; as they usually give animals credit for 

 a share of intelligence ; they said, that they were laughing because 

 we could not take the whole, and that they would have plenty 

 to eat as well as we. 



On coming to the part where the elephant was slain, we passed 

 through grass so tall that it reminded me of that in the valley of 

 Cassange. Insects are very numerous after the rains commence. 



