Leader in the hunt; he went before the others, examined the animals,
and on his decision all depended. If he decided to attack a herd,
the rest went boldly on; but if he declined, none of them would engage.
A certain part of the elephant belonged to him by right of the office he held,
and such was the faith in medicine held by the slaves of the Portuguese
whom we met hunting, that they offered to pay this man handsomely
if he would show them the elephant medicine.
When near Mosusa's village we passed a rivulet called Chowe, now running
with rain-water. The inhabitants there extract a little salt from the sand
when it is dry, and all the people of the adjacent country
come to purchase it from them. This was the first salt we had met with
since leaving Angola, for none is to be found in either
the country of the Balonda or Barotse; but we heard of salt-pans
about a fortnight west of Naliele, and I got a small supply from Mpololo
while there. That had long since been finished, and I had again
lived two months without salt, suffering no inconvenience except
an occasional longing for animal food or milk.
In marching along, the rich reddish-brown soil was so clammy
that it was very difficult to walk.
