Our Experience Tends To Prove That The
European Constitution Has A Power Of Endurance, Even In The Tropics,
Greater Than That Of The Hardiest Of The Meat-Eating Africans.
After pitching our camp, one or two of us usually go off to hunt,
more as a matter of necessity than of pleasure, for the men, as well
as ourselves, must have meat.
We prefer to take a man with us to
carry home the game, or lead the others to where it lies; but as they
frequently grumble and complain of being tired, we do not
particularly object to going alone, except that it involves the extra
labour of our making a second trip to show the men where the animal
that has been shot is to be found. When it is a couple of miles off
it is rather fatiguing to have to go twice; more especially on the
days when it is solely to supply their wants that, instead of resting
ourselves, we go at all. Like those who perform benevolent deeds at
home, the tired hunter, though trying hard to live in charity with
all men, is strongly tempted to give it up by bringing only
sufficient meat for the three whites and leaving the rest; thus
sending the "idle ungrateful poor" supperless to bed. And yet it is
only by continuance in well-doing, even to the length of what the
worldly-wise call weakness, that the conviction is produced anywhere,
that our motives are high enough to secure sincere respect.
A jungle of mimosa, ebony, and "wait-a-bit" thorn lies between the
Chicova flats and the cultivated plain, on which stand the villages
of the chief, Chitora. He brought us a present of food and drink,
because, as he, with the innate politeness of an African, said, he
"did not wish us to sleep hungry: he had heard of the Doctor when he
passed down, and had a great desire to see and converse with him; but
he was a child then, and could not speak in the presence of great
men. He was glad that he had seen the English now, and was sorry
that his people were away, or he should have made them cook for us."
All his subsequent conduct showed him to be sincere.
Many of the African women are particular about the water they use for
drinking and cooking, and prefer that which is filtered through sand.
To secure this, they scrape holes in the sandbanks beside the stream,
and scoop up the water, which slowly filters through, rather than
take it from the equally clear and limpid river. This practice is
common in the Zambesi, the Rovuma, and Lake Nyassa; and some of the
Portuguese at Tette have adopted the native custom, and send canoes
to a low island in the middle of the river for water. Chitora's
people also obtained their supply from shallow wells in the sandy bed
of a small rivulet close to the village. The habit may have arisen
from observing the unhealthiness of the main stream at certain
seasons. During nearly nine months in the year, ordure is deposited
around countless villages along the thousands of miles drained by the
Zambesi. When the heavy rains come down, and sweep the vast fetid
accumulation into the torrents, the water is polluted with filth;
and, but for the precaution mentioned, the natives would prove
themselves as little fastidious as those in London who drink the
abomination poured into the Thames by Reading and Oxford. It is no
wonder that sailors suffered so much from fever after drinking
African river water, before the present admirable system of
condensing it was adopted in our navy.
The scent of man is excessively terrible to game of all kinds, much
more so, probably, than the sight of him. A herd of antelopes, a
hundred yards off, gazed at us as we moved along the winding path,
and timidly stood their ground until half our line had passed, but
darted off the instant they "got the wind," or caught the flavour of
those who had gone by. The sport is all up with the hunter who gets
to the windward of the African beast, as it cannot stand even the
distant aroma of the human race, so much dreaded by all wild animals.
Is this the fear and the dread of man, which the Almighty said to
Noah was to be upon every beast of the field? A lion may, while
lying in wait for his prey, leap on a human being as he would on any
other animal, save a rhinoceros or an elephant, that happened to
pass; or a lioness, when she has cubs, might attack a man, who,
passing "up the wind of her," had unconsciously, by his scent,
alarmed her for the safety of her whelps; or buffaloes, amid other
animals, might rush at a line of travellers, in apprehension of being
surrounded by them; but neither beast nor snake will, as a general
rule, turn on man except when wounded, or by mistake. If gorillas,
unwounded, advance to do battle with him, and beat their breasts in
defiance, they are an exception to all wild beasts known to us. From
the way an elephant runs at the first glance of man, it is inferred
that this huge brute, though really king of beasts, would run even
from a child.
Our two donkeys caused as much admiration as the three white men.
Great was the astonishment when one of the donkeys began to bray.
The timid jumped more than if a lion had roared beside them. All
were startled, and stared in mute amazement at the harsh-voiced one,
till the last broken note was uttered; then, on being assured that
nothing in particular was meant, they looked at each other, and burst
into a loud laugh at their common surprise. When one donkey
stimulated the other to try his vocal powers, the interest felt by
the startled visitors, must have equalled that of the Londoners, when
they first crowded to see the famous hippopotamus.
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