Ciup. XV. DETAINED BY MANENKO. 191 



Manenko gave us some manioc-roots in the morning, and 

 had determined to carry our baggage to her uncle's, Shinte. 

 We had heard a sample of what she could do with her tongue ; 

 and as neither my men nor myself had much inclination to 

 encounter this black virago, we proceeded to make ready the 

 packages ; but she said the men whom she had ordered for 

 the service would not arrive until to-morrow. I felt annoyed 

 at this further delay, and ordered the packages to be put into 

 the canoes at once ; but Manenko was not to be circumvented 

 in this way ; she came forward with her people, seized the 

 luggage, and declared that she would carry it in spite of me. 

 My men succumbed and left me powerless. I was moving 

 off in high dudgeon to the canoes, when she kindly placed 

 her hand on my shoulder, and, with a motherly look, said, 

 " Now, my little man, just do as the rest have done." My 

 feelings of annoyance of course vanished, and I went out to 

 try for some meat. 



The only kinds of game to be found in these parts are, the 

 zebra, the kualata or tahetsi (Aigoceros equina), kama (Bubalus 

 caama), buffaloes, and the small antelope hakitenwe (Philan- 

 tomba) . They are very shy, and can be seen only by following 

 on their trail for many miles. Urged by hunger, we followed 

 some zebras during the greater part of the day : we got 

 within fifty yards of them in a dense thicket, and I had made 

 sure of one, when to my infinite disgust the gun missed fire, 

 and off they bounded. The climate is so damp that the 

 powder in the gun-nipples cannot be kept dry. It is curious 

 to mark the intelligence of the game ; in districts where they 

 are much annoyed by fire-arms they keep out on the most 

 open country they can find, in order to have a widely-ex- 

 tended range of vision ; but here, where they are killed by 

 the arrows of the Balonda, they select foi safety the densest 

 forest, where the arrow cannot be easily shot. This variation 

 may indeed be partly owing to the greater heat of the sun, 

 which is here particularly overpowering. However it is to 

 be accounted for, the wild animals here certainly frequent 

 the forests by day even when there is no sunshine, while 

 those farther south generally shun these covers. 



