78 
AFRICAN HUNTING. 
I gladly enlisted him on those terms. I only wanted 
a couple of companions, or some books, to make me 
perfectly happy during the fearfully long nights, 
when I lay stretched out on my mat, sipping coffee, 
and eating roasted nuts and salt, with a fire burning 
close to me on the floor. I could easily have con¬ 
cocted a light of some kind or other, if I had had any 
use for it. Eats annoyed me considerably during 
the night, owing to my having so much flesh in 
the hut. 
29 th. — Off at sunrise, and saw three lions sneak¬ 
ing off from a wildebeest. I was anxious to go after 
the former, but the Amatongas would not hear of such 
folly and danger, and argued the matter thus: 
‘What should I do with one, in case I was for¬ 
tunate enough to kill it P ’ — instead of the tables 
being turned, which they seemed to think the most 
probable issue to the attempt; besides, the lions 
were their friends, and provided them constantly 
with flesh, and they would take no part in molesting 
them. Though strange, it is quite true that the na¬ 
tives throughout are indebted to the lions for many a 
dainty repast. Crossed the Umkusi, a beautiful river, 
with large trees overhanging and spreading across. 
Saw wolves, waterbuck, and several troops of pallah, 
and took up my quarters for the night with an Ama- 
tonga chief, named Job. The Amatonga brought 
all manner of things for sale. I invested in a fowl, 
eggs, nuts, some good rice, beer, and a very strong, 
neatly-made mat, to carry my blanket and to sleep 
