20 
INHUMAN PROCEEDINGS. 
[chap. I. 
village while its occupants are still sleeping, they fire 
the grass huts in all directions, and pour volleys of 
musketry through the flaming thatch. Panic-stricken, 
the unfortunate victims rush from their burning dwell¬ 
ings, and the men are shot down like pheasants in a 
battue, while the women and children, bewildered in 
the danger and confusion, are kidnapped and secured. 
The herds of cattle, still within their kraal or “ zareeba,” 
are easily disposed of, and are driven off with great 
rejoicing, as the prize of victory. The women and 
children are then fastened together, the former secured 
in an instrument called a sheba, made of a forked pole, 
the neck of the prisoner fitting into the fork, secured 
by a cross piece lashed behind, while the wrists, 
brought together in advance of the body, are tied 
to the pole. The children are then fastened by their 
necks with a rope attached to the women, and thus 
form a living chain, in which order they are marched 
to the head-quarters in company with the captured 
herds. 
This is the commencement of business : should there 
be ivory in any of the huts not destroyed by the fire, 
it is appropriated; a general plunder takes place. The 
trader s party dig up the floors of the huts to search 
for iron hoes, which are generally thus concealed, as 
the greatest treasure of the negroes; the granaries are 
