CHAP. IV. ELEPHANT-HUNT GAME LAW. 115 



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 con- 

 siderably 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, how- 

 ever, to have originated with the Portuguese 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 tusks 

 from their vassals. We did not find the law in operation 

 in any tribe beyond the range of Portuguese traders, or 

 further than the sphere of travel of those Arabs who 

 imitated Portuguese customs in trade. At the Kafue in 

 1855 the chiefs bought the meat we killed, and demanded 

 nothing as their due ; and so it was up the Shire during 



