A FREE GIFT 
15 
like this, and I give none. You have free permission to go 
through my country, but men I can hardly spare, because we 
expect war. To-morrow you shall hear.’ 
As all our horses had died here of the ‘ sickness,’ I offered 
him my saddle and bridle as a souvenir at this last interview ; 
but he refused to take it, until I pointed out to him that the 
saddle was now useless to me, and I should have to throw it 
away, as we had no animals to ride. Then he saw that the offer 
was made without hopes of a counterpresent, and he accepted 
the gift with courtesy. 
Amongst the hunters and wagon-drivers congregated here 1 
we found a coloured man named Franz, who, for the considera¬ 
tion of £4 a month and the promise of good treatment, under¬ 
took to pilot our expedition to Panda Matenga, a trading and 
hunting station near the Victoria falls. We afterwards per¬ 
suaded him to accompany us on the whole journey through the 
interior, and I must pay him the compliment of saying that 
we always found him willing and trustworthy, although faint¬ 
hearted under trying conditions, and a little spoilt by the 
generosity and self-denial of his former master, Mr. Selous. 
1 Generally half-breeds, who are known by the distinctive title of ‘ coloured 
people,’ in differentiation from the natives up-country. 
