Chap. XXVII. FOOD OF THE ELEPHANT. 301 



man}-?" As Sekeletu had ordered my men not to take their 

 shields, as in the case of my first company, we were regarded 

 as unarmed, and consequently as an easy prey. We prepared 

 against a night attack by discharging and reloading our 

 guns which were exactly the same in number (five) as on 

 the former occasion : we were not molested however. Some 

 of the enemy tried to lead us towards the Bashukulompo, who 

 are considered the fiercest race in this quarter ; but as we 

 knew our direction to the confluence of the Kafue and Zambesi, 

 we declined their guidance. When we resumed our march 

 the civil head-man accompanied us, and did good service by 

 explaining to the crowds of natives that hovered round us our 

 character and intentions ; we thus escaped molestation. That 

 night we slept by a little village under a low range of hills 

 which are called Chizamena. The country here was more 

 woody than on the high lands we had left, but the trees were 

 in general of only moderate size. Great numbers of them 

 have been broken off by elephants a foot or two from the 

 ground, in order that they may feed on the tender shoots at 

 the tops : the trees thus seem pollarded from that point. In 

 spite of this practice, the elephant never seriously lessens the 

 number of trees ; indeed I have often been struck by the very 

 little damage he does in a forest. His food consists for the 

 most part of bulbs, tubers, roots, and branches : the natives in 

 the interior believe that he never touches grass, and the only 

 instance I saw of his having grazed was near Tete, when the 

 grass was in seed, and when he might have been attracted by 

 the farinaceous matter, which exists in such quantities in 

 the seed that the natives collect it for their own food. The 

 country abounded in ant-hills, which in the open parts are 

 studded over the surface like haycocks, while in the woods 

 they attain the size of haystacks, 40 or 50 feet in diameter at 

 the base, and at least 20 feet high. These spots are more 

 fertile than the rest of the land, and are the chief garden- 

 ground for maize, pumpkins, and tobacco. 



When we had passed the outskirting villages, which alone 

 consider themselves in a state of war with the Makololo, we 

 found the Batoka, or Batonga, as they call themselves, quite 

 friendly. Great numbers of them came from all the sur- 

 rounding villages with presents of maize and rnasuka, ex- 



