A F R I C A, ^ 77 
to explain myfelf? In the heat of his Impa- 
tience, he had already ordered one of his at- 
tendants to bring from his hut the articles to 
be returned. For my part, I was refolved to 
give him the razor, and to requeft him to keep 
the whole : but, in the midft of this fcene, a 
fhot was fuddenly fired near us ; and at the 
fame time we heard the moft frightful cries. 
Rufhing inftantly from my tent, to enquire 
what was the caufe of this noife, I faw a 
Kabobiqua flying as fail as he could from one 
of my hunters, while, at the diftance of a 
hundred paces farther, three men were mak- 
ing the moft lamentable clamour, and near 
them was a young girl lying on the ground. • 
I made a fignal to my hunter to approach me ; 
but the report of the fliot, and the howling 
of the three men, had already fpread alarm 
throughout the horde. Some cried out trea- 
chery ; others ran to their arms ; and I now 
imagined, that I was about to be maffacred, 
with my whole company, and that I fhould 
be obliged to arm them in my defence. My 
fituation was the more critical, as neither I, 
nor any perfon in the kraal, knew what w^as 
the 
