360 
THE NEW AFKICA 
short cuts, in about fourteen hours, that being a reasonable 
allowance for the time, making seven and a quarter miles per 
hour through sandy country for fourteen hours on end. Natur¬ 
ally we went to see this wonderful man, who accompanied me 
across the Zouga to look at the Tumulakana river and to go 
shooting. He towered over my head like a young tree. His 
legs were excessively long and lean compared to his short body, 
giving him a most unique appearance, which I am at a loss to 
find a simile for, unless one may utilise a pair of tailor’s scissors 
for the occasion. When walking at his side I tried with all my 
power to stretch him into a pace that might bring forth a little 
effort from him, without, however, in the least putting him out. 
He simply added a few inches to his elastic stride, apparently 
aware of my intention, and, smiling, stepped easily along like 
a great ostrich, while I laboured at a pace that usually made 
my boys trot again to keep up with. Makehto certainly was a 
marvel! I could not get a good view of the Tumulakana owing 
to thickets and reeds, but from the description given us regard¬ 
ing its course and size by natives on the spot, we managed to 
lay its course down more or less accurately {vide map). On 
the way back to the crossing where we had left the canoe, I hit 
a water-buck hard through the shoulder at one hundred and 
eighty yards distance. He bounded off' into the bush-grown 
flat, and would have been lost but for Makehto, who ran after 
him like a demon, crashing through bushes and leaping over 
smaller trees with gigantic bounds. His shout guided me to 
the spot some five hundred yards off, where he stood perfectly 
unruffled, grinning over the carcase of the beast lying dead 
at his feet. He remarked modestly, when I praised him for 
his speed, that he usually managed to keep up with buck when 
it was wounded. 
We gave Makehto a good portion of the meat on returning to 
camp, and then in four good treks reached Samonganga, a native 
village. From here we kept along the banks of the Zouga for 
three treks more. The country was of much the same character 
as usual, bushy, with occasional large trees on the river banks. 
