764 FATE OF AN OLD SERVANT. 



lion were too plain to make it advisable to track him far in the 

 thick cover he had reached, and so the search was abandoned. 

 The body of the donkey was left behind, but two canoes re- 

 mained near the village, and it is most probable that it went to 

 make a feast at Chisalamalama's. 



Travelling through incessant swamp and water, they were 

 fain to make their next stopping-place in a spot where an enor- 

 mous ant-hill spread itself out — a small island in the waters. 

 A fire was lit, and by employing hoes, most of them dug some- 

 thing like a form to sleep in on the hard earth. Thankful to 

 leave such a place, they passed Kawingu and came to N'Kossu's. 

 The people were called Kawende ; they formerly owned many 

 cattle, but were now reduced. They had been put under the 

 harrow by the Wanyamwezi, and there were very few herds 

 remaining. A present was made of a cow; but it seems that 

 the rule, " first catch your hare," was in full force in N'Kossu's 

 pastures : the few animals were exceeding wild, and a hunt was 

 set on foot to obtain the present. In this hunt one of our party 

 unfortunately shot a villager, and broke the poor fellow's thigh. 

 Although it was clearly an accident, such things do not readily 

 settle themselves down on such an assumption in Africa. The 

 chief, however, behaved well. He told the men that a fine 

 would have to be paid on the return of the wounded man's 

 father, and it had better be handed to him ; for by the law the 

 blame would fall on him as the entertainer of the man who had 

 brought about the injury. He admitted that he had ordered all 

 his people to stand clear of the spot where the disaster occurred, 

 but he supposed that in this instance his orders had not been 

 heard. They had not sufficient goods in any case to respond to 

 the demand ; and there was only one thing left — the leg must be 

 mended. The process adopted to set the broken limb is a 

 sample of native surgery which must not be passed over. 



First of all a hole was dug, say two feet deep and four in 

 length, in such a manner that the patient could sit in it with 

 his legs out before him. A large leaf was then bound round 

 the fractured thigh, and earth thrown in, so that the patient 

 was buried up to the chest. The next act was to cover the 

 earth which lay over the man's legs with a thick layer of mud ; 

 then plenty of sticks and grass were collected, and a fire lit on 



