368 
THE NEW AFRICA 
relative position against the dark background in the distance as 
the cart proceeded, and quite naturally, in the hurry of the 
moment, imagined the object had a movement of its own. To a 
diluted mind like his it was no great effort in imagination to 
add the legs, claws, and contour of a lion to this object. Hence 
the scare. The behaviour of the oxen surprised us most, for it 
was their evident terror, guided as we thought by unerring 
instinct, that convinced us more than anything else that we had 
a lion to deal with. We could only account for their behaviour 
by admitting that here was a complete case of communication 
of ideas from man to beast, a subject we had often discussed 
previously on our journey. 
Instead of being able to obtain corn in barter from the 
natives, as we had hoped, we found to our dismay that a famine 
had ravaged this part of the land, and that the natives them¬ 
selves were in great straits. Things were so bad that we on 
several occasions had to supply a little food, all we could spare, 
to travelling Mongwatos we met, who came to us in great 
distress. 
To one living in civilisation, where one can just ‘ go round 
the corner,’ and by paying for it obtain a good meal, it may seem 
that I harp on the food question with too much persistency. 
But to one who knows such veldt, where game is scarce, it will 
be more comprehensible to what distressing proportions this 
question can grow, when there is a long journey to be accom¬ 
plished, and no direct provision has been made for the party. 
One may be actually passing close to game, and be none the 
wiser in this bush-grown country, or, on the other hand, unsuc¬ 
cessfully devote days to hunting in a district devoid of game, 
while all the time it is necessary to keep going ahead and waste 
no time; for in the 'beyond’ one always expects relief. However, 
we hoped to be able to purchase corn from Pompey, a chief on 
ahead. We were now close to the river again, having previously 
been compelled to strike far out into the sand-belts on account 
of the many backwater creeks extending into the flats from 
the Zouga. The river here is one mass of reeds, like the Chobe, 
