256 
A HYENA STEALS A GOAT. 
shouts and screams from my men in the hut. My 
first thought was to look whether a fire had broken 
out ; and finding this was not the case, I inquired 
whether Wanyoro had attacked us. The bleating of a 
goat disclosed the fact that a hyena had carried away 
the fattest of our flock. Torches were lit and search 
made, but nothing was recovered till morning, when 
the paunch and one kidney of the poor animal were 
the only traces found. He must have been a bold 
hyena to have broken through so strong a fence close 
to where we all slept, and in size he must have been 
a monster, for his spoor was as large as my hand. 
The Seedees complain that all the plantain and sweet 
potato about the place have been eaten up — " they are 
starving ; " although every third day a cow is killed 
for them ! 
Not far from this hut there are three caverns dug, 
looking like the hold of a ship, in which the natives 
secrete their grain, &c, from their plundering neigh- 
bours, the Waganda, but at present they are empty. 
The Unyoro M'koongoo sends a message, bidding us 
not to be impatient for the king's reply, as it will 
certainly arrive to-day or to-morrow ; but I am more 
anxious about Speke, who should have joined us by 
this time, and nothing has been heard of him. 
A storm of thunder, lightning, and rain, blew in 
gusts from the south, then veered round to N.W., 
dashing like waterspouts upon the ground. It began 
at 4, with an interval at sunset, and lasted till 8 p.m. 
About two inches of rain fell. 
1st August. — Halt. A bait of a cows head was 
placed last night for the hyena that had stolen the 
goat, but no shot was obtained, as it rained. In the 
