CHAPTER X 
Moheni’s men of great stature—Franz loses heart—Proceed up the Chobe— 
Natives bad shots in general—Native game-lore—The elephant and rhino¬ 
ceros fight for peculiar privileges—Koodoo -killed by lions—About lions 
—Lion hunt—First hills seen on the Chobe banks—Puff adder—About 
snakes and their poison—Wild fruit—Grand forest. 
Great was the astonishment of the assembled natives, many of 
whom carried bows and arrows, at my unusual appearance; but 
they gave no sign except with their eyes, as it is contrary to 
their etiquette that any but the leading man should speak on 
formal occasions. We were guided to a circle of fifteen men, 
seated in silence, whom I greeted in an every day sort of way to 
make the position easy. After a 
proper silence, a grave-looking 
man of about fifty-five years, who 
turned out to be Moheni himself, 
answered 
my c Gitumetzi ’ by a similar 
greeting, slapping his enormous 
thighs with his right hand, in 
which part of the salutation all 
the assembled body joined. While 
this was going on I noticed that 
all the squatting figures were 
gifted with shin bones of unusual 
length. When Moheni requested 
me to be seated, I pointed to a 
rather sit in the shade. At this they all rose in approval, 
and to my utter surprise I found that amongst the fifteen 
men I was the shortest but one in stature, and he proved 
chief of the Macheeayee, 
