Chap. VII. ELEPHANT-HUNT— GAME LAW. 165 



men, anxious to try their muskets, went off to hunt elephants. 

 For several hours they saw nothing, and some of them, getting 

 tired, proposed to go to a village and buy food. "No !" said 

 Mantlanyane, " we came to hunt, so let us go on." In a short 

 time they fell in with a herd of cow elephants and calves. As 

 soon as the first cow caught sight of the hunters on the rocks 

 above her, she, with true motherly instinct, placed her young 

 one between her fore-legs for protection. The men were 

 for scattering, and firing into the herd indiscriminately. 

 " That won't do," cried Mantlanyane, " let us all fire at this 

 one." The poor beast received a volley, and ran down into 

 the plain, where another shot killed her ; the young one 

 escaped with the herd. The men were wild with excitement, 

 and danced round the fallen queen of the forest, with loud 

 shouts and exultant songs. They returned, bearing as 

 trophies, the tail and part of the trunk, and marched into 

 camp as erect as soldiers, and evidently feeling that their 

 stature had increased considerably since the morning. 



Sandia's wife was duly informed of their success, as here a 

 law decrees that half the elephant belongs to the Chief on 

 whose ground it has been killed. The Portuguese traders 

 always submit to this tax, and, were it of native origin, it 

 could hardly be considered unjust. A Chief must have some 

 source of revenue ; and, as many Chiefs can raise none except 

 from ivory or slaves, this tax is more free from objections than 

 any other that a black Chancellor of the Exchequer could 

 devise. It seems, however, to have originated with the Portu- 

 guese themselves, and then to have spread among the adjacent 

 tribes. The Governors look sharply after any elephant that 

 may be slain on the Crown lands, and demand one of the tusl<s 

 from their vassals, "We did not find the law in operation in any 

 tribe beyond the range of Portuguese traders, or further than 



