The
Grain Was Heaped Up On Wooden Stages, And So Was A Variety Of Other
Products.
The men are skilful hunters, and kill elephants and
buffaloes with long heavy spears.
We halted a few minutes on the
morning of the 12th July, opposite the narrow island of Sikakoa,
which has a village on its lower end. We were here told that
Moselekatse's chief town is a month's distance from this place. They
had heard, moreover, that the English had come to Moselekatse, and
told him it was wrong to kill men; and he had replied that he was
born to kill people, but would drop the habit; and, since the English
came, he had sent out his men, not to kill as of yore, but to collect
tribute of cloth and ivory. This report referred to the arrival of
the Rev. R. Moffat, of Kuruman, who, we afterwards found, had
established a mission. The statement is interesting as showing that,
though imperfectly expressed, the purport of the missionaries'
teaching had travelled, in a short time, over 300 miles, and we know
not how far the knowledge of the English operations on the coast
spread inland.
When abreast of the high wooded island Kalabi we came in contact with
one of the game-laws of the country, which has come down from the
most ancient times. An old buffalo crossed the path a few yards in
front of us; our guide threw his small spear at its hip, and it was
going off scarcely hurt, when three rifle balls knocked it over.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 192 of 505
Words from 51755 to 52015
of 136856
