CARRYING MEAT HOME 
199 
beast fired at was stone dead. On cutting him up, we found 
that the bullet had expanded in the liver and had smashed that 
organ up into a pulp, strange to say without tearing the outer 
covering much, so that when we took it out, the fluid contents 
were held as in a bag and could be poured out. 
It is one thing to shoot a wildebeest six miles from home, 
and quite another to transport the meat to camp amongst four 
of you including yourself. Knowing by the scarcity of spoor that 
game was getting very rare, and that therefore it was unwise 
to waste a particle of meat, I suggested to the boys that I 
would go home and send out more boys to help convey the 
buck home. But they were afraid to stop alone unarmed 
because of the fast approaching night, and also objected to go 
themselves for the same reason while I offered to remain. So 
there was no help for it. The beast was skinned and quartered; 
and taking a hind-quarter for my share and some other bits, 
which I hung over a stout stick and carried on my shoulder, 
supported crossways by the gun from the other shoulder, and 
bidding the boys pick up the rest, we started for home. The 
heavy weight soon told on the boys, so that I reached camp 
much in advance of them and sent boys back to their assist¬ 
ance. But becoming scared they had thrown away a con¬ 
siderable portion of the meat, and only brought in two 
remaining quarters between them. It was three days since the 
last meat was killed, and although not starving exactly, we had 
had nothing to eat but mabulas since the previous morning, 
so there was quite an ovation accorded to the meat-bearers 
on reaching camp. 
On waking next morning we found that Franz had gone off* 
after some quagga, whose shrill piping neigh had betrayed their 
proximity to our camp, but he returned shortly very sulky at 
not having shot anything. Here we all suffered much from 
eating too freely of the mabula fruit, which must contain some 
active constipating alkaloid. 
The people in the temporary village here had goats and two 
common-looking yellow dogs with them, although four miles 
