As Some Of Our Men Were
Ill, A Halt Was Made Here.
As we were unable to march next morning, six of our young men,
anxious to try their muskets, went off to hunt elephants.
For
several hours they saw nothing, and some of them, getting tired,
proposed to go to a village and buy food. "No!" said Mantlanyane,
"we came to hunt, so let us go on." In a short time they fell in
with a herd of cow elephants and calves. As soon as the first cow
caught sight of the hunters on the rocks above her, she, with true
motherly instinct, placed her young one between her fore-legs for
protection. The men were for scattering, and firing into the herd
indiscriminately. "That won't do," cried Mantlanyane, "let us all
fire at this one." The poor beast received a volley, and ran down
into the plain, where another shot killed her; the young one escaped
with the herd. The men were wild with excitement, and danced round
the fallen queen of the forest, with loud shouts and exultant songs.
They returned, bearing as trophies the tail and part of the trunk,
and marched into camp as erect as soldiers, and evidently feeling
that their stature had increased considerably since the morning.
Sandia's wife was duly informed of their success, as here a law
decrees that half the elephant belongs to the chief on whose ground
it has been killed. The Portuguese traders always submit to this
tax, and, were it of native origin, it could hardly be considered
unjust.
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