370 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Sept. 3, 1910. 
have done, and to cap the climax I missed a 
locket to which I was very much attached, and 
which I generally wore on a string round my 
neck. I had been having a bath and had taken 
off the locket and evidently forgotten to put it 
over my head again. I had Eli up and told him 
and questioned all the boys, but could find out 
nothing. It then struck me that Mrs. Eli was 
constantly messing about in my tent, and my 
suspicions fastened on her, but she swore black 
and blue that she knew nothing about it. Think¬ 
ing this over and putting one thing and another 
together, I was now almost sure it was Mrs. Eli 
who was doing the petty thieving. I told Eli 
plainly what I thought, adding that if I could 
catch her I would punish her severely. My sus¬ 
picions were soon verified, for entering my tent 
one day, there was Mrs. Eli with one hand full 
of sugar, caught in flagrante delicto. Of course she 
could say nothing. I called Eli and told him to 
give her a good hiding to teach her better man¬ 
ners, and this, by the howls I heard, he did in 
very short order. It sounds cruel, but native 
women are like children; they must have a pun¬ 
ishment now and then. That little thrashing did 
Mrs. Eli a power of good, and for a long time 
to come she was everything that could be desired 
and I had no more cause to complain about 
thieving. 
The sport I now had was very mixed, but of 
the best, and I secured above everything some 
excellent specimens of the wart hog. These we 
found every day and everywhere — regular 
colonies of them. One old boar in particular I 
got here that was the largest I have ever seen. 
In body he was very big, scarred and cut up, 
the result of many a hard won battle, and with 
one tusk that was the longest I have ever seen, but 
the other had been broken off. Of course this 
spoilt the head as a specimen, and it was not 
worth saving. There were two kinds of pigs 
here, the ordinary wart hog and the genuine 
wild pig, which is of a reddish color. I went 
up to one which was wounded and the brute, if 
able to do so, would have given me a rough 
time, and had to be stopped with a second shot. 
I saw one afterward in confinement and he also 
was exceedingly vicious, and on the approach of 
anybody who was not known to him would try 
his best to get out to attack. This one was 
afterward shipped to the Zoological Gardens in 
London, and I think I have heard was the only 
specimen there of the kind. 
Wart hog'is excellent eating and a pig’s head 
properly cooked in native style cannot be beaten. 
The method is this: A hole is dug large enough 
to receive the boar’s head, which must be cov¬ 
ered over with clay; light a good fire in the hole, 
making an oven of it, and when it is very hot 
with plenty of good live coals in it, put in the 
clay-covered head. Cover all with earth and do 
not open it for two hours. When taken out, the 
clay will come off in pieces and your boar’s head 
is cooked. Being encased in the clay all the 
juices are kept inside, and it is delicious. All 
natives are great meat eaters; in fact, if they 
have meat and a certain amount of salt, they can 
very well do without grain, for a time at any 
rate. I was forced to shoot a certain amount 
of game every day to keep them going, but I 
always made it a rule to shoot males. After a 
time it grew absolutely tiresome to go out and 
shoot, unless it was some very fine buck. It was 
necessary, however, and on one or more occas¬ 
ions I secured most perfect specimens, although 
at the time I did not want to kill them. Roan 
and sable predominated. 
A roan antelope is a magnificent beast, but not 
to my mind to be compared to a sable. The lat¬ 
ter is more beautifully proportioned, and apart 
from that, his colorings I think make him from 
a naturalist’s point of view far superior to a 
roan, beautiful animal though he is. This and 
Northwestern Rhodesia is the country for sable. 
One day when out I saw a roan bull about 
400 yards off. The grass being long, it was an 
easy stalk, and when I got to within 100 yards 
I let him have it. He dropped, but as I thought 
got up again. A second time I shot and down 
he went, but jumped up again. Naturally I 
thought it was the same bull, and although he 
was going as hard as he could, I fired again and 
fortunately missed and he went away. On go¬ 
ing up to see if there was a big blood spoor, as 
I was certain that I had hit twice anyhow, I 
found two fine bull roans which I had knocked 
down with my first two shots. There must have 
been three old bulls lying together, and it hap¬ 
pened that they jumped up one after the other. 
I was glad that I had missed number three, as 
two were more than enough to last us for days. 
Some natives arriving on the scene soon put an 
end to my qualms. I made a good trade, mak¬ 
ing them bring/grain, which we needed, in ex¬ 
change for one antelope and the two hides. Beth 
animals had heads of about the same size and 
very good ones. These I saved and at the pres¬ 
ent moment they grace the walls of a house in 
England. 
Game here was plenty, but one had to hunt 
for it. It was nothing like British East Africa. 
One might hunt all day long and see nothing 
except perhaps an oribi or a pig. On another 
day one would come on four or five species of 
antelope, sable, roan, hartebeeste, wildebeeste, 
eland, koodoo, oribi, duiker and zebra. These 
latter were far from plentiful and knew very 
well how to look after themselves. 
A few more days and we arrived at the Loang- 
wa River, and from what I could learn from the 
natives there, it was only about two weeks’ 
march to Fort Jameson, where I could again 
get the few necessaries that were naturally 
wanted after my long journey. I could have got 
two fine elephant bulls the following day, but I 
now was practically nearing civilization, and as 
my friend was away up in the Government ser¬ 
vice, I did not wish to put him in an awkward 
position by doing anything that I might possibly 
be called to order for. Eli and his wife were 
not getting on in the meantime in that happy 
manner that I like to see wedded couples do, 
and I thought that sooner or later there would 
be a family breakup, but as Mrs. Eli was quite- 
fair to look upon, I was easy on one point, and 
that was that she would never lack suitors, and 
that should Eli wish to drive a bargain, he would 
have little difficulty in doing so. 
At length he told me in confidence that could 
he trade her off he meant to do so. To this I 
would not agree and insisted that if he did wish 
to get rid of her he should give her money and 
let her go. A few days later Providence re¬ 
lieved me of all anxiety on this score, for Mrs. 
Eli eloped with my head carrier and was not 
seen again. 
On reaching Ft. Jameson I camped outside the 
town and went in to make inquiries and found 
without difficulty those whom I was looking 
for. Of my feelings when I heard the first 
words of English from a gentlewoman’s lips I 
cannot write, nor can I write of all the joy I 
had in associating with these old friends, nor of 
their infinite goodness to me while I was there. 
At Fort Jameson I sold my ivory for the sim¬ 
ple reason that I did not wish to hire any more 
porters than necessary. I was enabled to pay 
off some there and thus reduce my caravan and 
expenses. I did not get the value of the ivory, 
as it was a bad place to sell it. I should have 
taken it on to the coast. Eli was now reconciled 
to his lot, and I think considered his married 
life of four or five weeks to have ended very 
satisfactorily. I had talked over my journey 
with my friend, at Fort Jameson and now made 
a bee line south for Blantyre, the chief town in 
these parts. I was half inclined to have another 
try for elephant, but realized that to do so would 
not be fair, after .the kindness I had received. 
At Blantyre I paid off my porters, making each 
one a small present. This I always do if pos¬ 
sible, as I believe it pays, especially when they 
have served you well, and it makes it very much 
easier for anyone following in your footsteps. 
I worked my way down the Shire River to 
Chiromo where I crossed, and then made for 
Sena, on the Zambesi River. I had been several 
times to the Zambesi, but never as far east as 
this. At Victoria Falls the Zambesi is a fine 
• river, but here it is very much finer and larger. 
There was no difficulty in hiring canoes for 
transportation. From Sena to Beira is from 
150 to 200 miles, but it was through a fine game 
country, as good as any in the world, but through 
what we call the low veldt or bush veldt, which, 
at certain seasons of the year, is not healthy for 
either man or beast. Malarial fever is common, 
and should you have a horse, he is pretty sure to 
get horse sickness, unless he is what they term 
salted, which means immune. A salted horse 
is worth here from £80 to £100, but an unsalted 
one £30 to £40, and here is a tip worth remem¬ 
bering, If in Rhodesia you go for a shooting 
trip and require a horse, always buy from a 
reputable dealer and take what is termed here a 
guarantee, which holds good for a year. This is, 
that should your horse die within that time from 
horse sickness, or what is commonly known as 
dikkop, your money is returned to you. In this 
country you can travel comfortably with a wagon 
and oxen, and your wagon is your home. When 
possible it is by far the best way of traveling, as 
your porters are naturally a very small outfit. 
All you really need are two good Cape boys or 
Hottentots to drive, and a vorloper, or boy to 
lead the oxen, and a few extra boys. 
I got a wagon, and from this point on I had 
no more trouble. I also got a horse, and now I 
could hunt as a man should hunt, no more foot 
slogging than I wished, but sometimes one was 
obliged to go on foot. The game laws in Portu¬ 
guese East Africa are very lax, and as in many 
other places, there is a good deal of graft; a tip, 
and everything is made smooth for you. Here 
in the bushveldt game of every kind is abundant, 
but requires some hunting. There are still a few 
elephant, and in some places any number of buf¬ 
falo. From Sena, I took with me a guide, telling 
him that I wished to strike the Pungwe River, 
but as high up as possible, so as to be in Portu¬ 
guese East Africa, and to work my way down the 
Pungwe to Beira. 
