CHAPTER V 
Start for the Chobe—Mode of payment to the bearers—Rudolf left behind with 
fever—His sad end—The Situtunga buck—Jan Veyers 5 adventure with a 
lion—Shooting on the Chobe—Crocodile—Hammar’s adventure with hippo¬ 
potami. 
Thirty bearers arrived from Swangie’s about the 28th of June, 
and we heard from them that another batch of like number was 
on the way. Amongst this first lot was a man whom Westbeech 
pointed out as a great villain, one who had repeatedly played 
tricks on the hunters whom he had accompanied on short expe¬ 
ditions in the neighbourhood. No sooner had this man arrived 
than he commenced to harangue the people about the dangers 
they might encounter on the journey we proposed to take, telling 
them we were strangers not to be trusted, and so forth, and in 
general made things lively for us’and for the ‘ boys.’ Of course 
we did not understand what he was saying at the time, but as 
soon as Franz had made the gist of his conversation clear to us, 
we called Westbeech, and on his advice immediately discharged 
this obnoxious fellow, much to his chagrin, as he had hoped to 
gain some advantage by this artifice and at least receive a good 
present to stop his tongue. At the time I expressed the opinion 
that this was a mistake, and that we should have got on the 
right side of him by offering him extra wages, as he was a man 
of some standing amongst his people, and at the last moment 
could have left him behind to deprive him of the opportunity of 
doing further harm. He left in high dudgeon, not without a 
parting shot at our ‘ boys,’ saying that we would lead them into 
untold misery and a dreadful death, and, not content with this, 
he went to meet the other bearers on the road and told them 
that he had a message from us to say that they were no longer 
D 
