488 WE LOSE OUR WAY. Chap. XXIV. 



repair the damage, and a great deal of gum, of a kind never 

 observed before by us on any tree, had exuded. Beyond the 

 village of Tette, the scourge of slave war had not passed 

 westward; and now, when we came to human dwellings, 

 the people welcomed us in words, the full meaning of which 

 we, whose happy country has never suffered from an inva- 

 sion, can scarcely realize, " We are glad that it is not war 

 you bring, but peace." 



At this season of the year the nights are still cold, and the 

 people having no crops to occupy their attention do not stir 

 out till long after the sun is up. At other times they are 

 off to their fields before the day dawns, and the first sound 

 one hears is the loud talking of men and women, in which 

 they usually indulge in the dark to scare off beasts by 

 the sound of the human voice. When no work is to be done, 

 the first warning of approaching day is the hemp-smoker's 

 loud ringing cough. 



Having been delayed one morning by some negotiation 

 about guides, who were used chiefly to introduce us to other 

 villages, we two whites walked a little way ahead, taking the 

 direction of the stream. The men having been always able 

 to find out our route by the prints of our shoes, we went 

 on for a number of miles. This time, however, they lost our 

 track and failed to follow us. The path was well marked 

 by elephants, hyenas, pallahs, and zebras, but for many a 

 day no human foot had trod it. When the sun went down 

 a deserted hamlet was reached, where we made comfortable 

 beds for ourselves of grass. Firing muskets to attract the 

 attention of those who have strayed is the usual resource 

 in these cases. On this occasion the sound of firearms 

 tended to mislead us ; for, hearing shots next morning, 

 a long weary march led us only to some native hunters, 

 who had been shooting buffaloes. Keturning to a small 



