Chap. XXYIH. 
CHARGE OF AN ELEPHANT. 
573 
so much affected by the weather as the rest of the ring itself: 
the edges of the rings thus stand out plainly. Mr. Quekett, hav¬ 
ing kindly examined some specimens, finds that it is “ silicified 
coniferous wood of the Araucakian type; and the nearest allied 
wood that he knows of is that found, also in a fossil state, in 
N^ew South Wales.” The numbers of large game were quite 
astonishing. I never saw elephants so tame as those near the 
Cliiponga: they stood close to our path without being the least 
afraid. Tliis is different fr:om their conduct where they have 
been accustomed to guns, for there they take alarm at the dis¬ 
tance of a mile, and begiu to run if a shot is fired even at a 
longer distance. My men killed another here, and rewarded the 
villagers of the Chiponga for their hberahty in meal, by loading 
them with flesh. We spent a night at a baobab, which was hoUow 
and would hold twenty men inside. It had been used as a lodging- 
house by the Babisa. 
As we approached nearer the Zambesi, the country became 
covered with broad-leaved bushes, pretty thickly planted, and we 
had several times to shout to elephants to get out of our way. 
At an open space, a herd of buffaloes came trotting up to look at 
our oxen, and it was only by shooting one that I made them 
retreat. The meat is very much hke that of an ox, and this one 
was very fine. The only danger we actually encountered was 
from a female elephant, with three young ones of different sizes. 
Charging tlnough the centre of our extended line, and causing 
the men to throw down their burdens in a great hurry, she 
received a spear for her temerity. I never saw an elephant with 
more than one calf before. We Imew that we were near our 
Zambesi again, even before the great river burst upon our sight, 
by the numbers of water-fowl we met. I killed four geese with 
two shots, and, had I followed the wishes of my men, could 
have secured a meal of water-fowl for the whole party. I never 
saw a river with so much animal Hfe around and in it, and, as the 
Barotse say, “ Its fish and fowl are always fat.” When our eyes 
were gladdened by a view of its goodly broad waters, we found it 
very much larger than it is even above the falls. One might try 
to make his voice heard across it in vain. Its flow was more rapid 
than near Sesheke, being often four and a half miles an hour, and, 
what I never saw before, the water was discoloured and of a deep 
