356 



THROUGH JUNGLE AND DESERT chap. 



ciated to a startling degree, his flesh clinging with 

 grim tenacity to his bones, and his movements halt- 

 ino: and weak. He assisted himself with a lons^ staff. 

 Upon reaching my tent, he seated himself upon the 

 ground, crossed his hands over his stomach, and with 

 an appealing look hoarsely muttered the words, " Njo 

 njirr " (Give me meat). Some of my men were 

 engaged in cooking strips of giraffe meat, and bits 

 of the hide of that animal were lying about the camp 

 drying, to be made into sandals. I told my men to 

 give him some of their food, which they did. He 

 seized it like a vulture, and, raw as it was, he vora- 

 ciously devoured it. Having begged in vain for more 

 of the raw meat, he turned to the bits of partly dried 

 hide, and begged piteously for them. Throughout 

 this scene my ears were assailed with the wailing 

 cries coming from a neighbouring zeriba, and the 

 sounds of hammering. Upon asking what these 

 sounds meant, I was told by my visitor that they 

 were caused by the breaking up of dried bones ; while 

 the cries came from the starving people begging for 

 their share of the feast. Our guest told us that with 

 the exception of two or three fortunate hunters, who 

 had succeeded in killing a small wart hog, none of 

 the members of the village (numbering loo souls) had 

 tasted food for ten days. Startling though his state- 

 ment seemed, his appearance seemed to warrant it. 



At length the old man returned to his people ; and 

 as soon as it became known that he had succeeded 

 in obtaining food, the entire village came out and 

 surrounded my camp. The inhabitants consisted of 

 people ranging from fifty years of age down to babies 



