218 "LIFE OF DA VI D LIVINGSTONE, LL.D. 



tained them hospitably, Livingstone's men killed a bull elephant, and had to 

 wait a day until some of the chief's people came to superintend the cutting 

 up and secure his half of the animal. Nyampungo's men brought with them 

 a basket of corn, a fowl, and a few strings of handsome beads as a thank- 

 offering for his having killed the elephant. While they were cutting up and 

 cooking the carcase, a large number of hyenas collected round them at a 

 respectful distance, " and kept up a loud laughter for two nights. I asked 

 my men what the hyenas were laughing at, as they usually give animals 

 credit for a share of intelligence ; they said that they were laughing because 

 we could not take the whole, and that they would have plenty to eat as well 

 as us." 



Speaking of the birds of Central Africa, he says, " These African birds 

 have not been wanting in song, they have only lacked poets to sing their 

 praise, which ours have had from the time of Aristophanes downwards. Ours 

 have both a classic and a modern interest to enhance their fame. In hot dry 

 weather, or at mid-day, when the sun is fierce, all are still; let, however, a 

 good shower fall, and all burst forth at once into merry lays and loving court- 

 ship. The early mornings and the cool evenings are the times for singing.'' 



In the Mopane country they met with numbers of a red-beaked variety 

 of hornbill, which builds its nest in an aperture in a tree. When the nest is 

 built the female retires into it, while the male covers the orifice with clay, all 

 save a narrow slit for the introduction of air and for feeding her, which the 

 devoted bird does until the eggs are hatched. As the female is very fat at 

 such times, the natives search for their nests, and capture and eat them. 

 Lions were abundant, and were treated as privileged animals by the natives, 

 no one attempting to hunt them, as it is supposed that when a chief dies, he 

 can metamorphose himself into a lion. 



At the village of a chief called Monina, Monahin, one of Livingstone's 

 men disappeared during the night. As he had been ill for some time and 

 had complained of his head, Livingstone imagined that he had wandered in 

 an insane state, and been picked up by a lion. They prowled about the 

 native settlements at night with great boldness, making it dangerous for any 

 one to be about after dark. He had proved very valuable to Livingstone, 

 and he felt his loss greatly. The general name of the people of this district is 

 Banyai ; they are ruled over by several chiefs, the government being a sort of 

 feudal republican. The people of a tribe, on the death of their chief, have the 

 privilege of electing any one, even from another tribe, to be his successor, if they 

 are not satisfied with any of the members of his family. The sons of the 

 chiefs are not eligible for election among the Banyai. The various chiefs of 

 the Banyai acknowledge allegiance to a head chief. At the time of Living- 

 stone's visit, this supreme position was held by a chief called Nyatewe. This 

 custom appears to prevail in South and Central Africa; and if the chief 



