A few hours after the drum had summoned the headmen,
natives might be seen approaching from all sides to the appointed spot
at which the council was to be held.
After much talking, it was at length decided that the hunt should take
place upon the manors of certain individuals whose property was
contiguous. The day of the hunt was arranged, and the headmen of the
villages retired to make the necessary arrangements.
Should a chief be hospitably disposed, he would frequently give a grand
entertainment prior to the meet. On such occasions upwards of a thousand
natives would arrive from different villages, in their full-dress
costume, consisting of plumes of ostrich feathers, leopard-skin mantles,
and their faces painted a frightful colour with fresh cow-dung. On these
occasions a large quantity of merissa was consumed, and one or two oxen
were slaughtered, according to the wealth of the person who gave the
festivity.
The sorcerer was an important personage at such entertainments, as it
was necessary to assure good luck by a variety of magic ceremonies, that
would not only protect the hunters from accidents, but would also bring
the wild animals direct into their nets.
At length the day of the hunt had arrived, when several thousand people
would collect at a certain rendezvous, about nine miles distant from
Fatiko, on the Fabbo road, which is the best neighbourhood for game.
