This Time, However,
They Lost Our Track, And Failed To Follow Us.
The path was well
marked by elephants, hyenas, pallahs, and zebras, but for many a day
no human foot had trod it.
When the sun went down a deserted hamlet
was reached, where we made comfortable beds for ourselves of grass.
Firing muskets to attract the attention of those who have strayed is
the usual resource in these cases. On this occasion the sound of
firearms tended to mislead us; for, hearing shots next morning, a
long weary march led us only to some native hunters, who had been
shooting buffaloes. Returning to a small village, we met with some
people who remembered our passing up to the Lake in the boat; they
were as kind as they could be. The only food they possessed was
tamarinds, prepared with ashes, and a little cowitch meal. The
cowitch, as mentioned before, has a velvety brown covering of minute
prickles, which, if touched, enter the pores of the skin and cause a
painful tingling. The women in times of scarcity collect the pods,
kindle a fire of grass over them to destroy the prickles, then steep
the beans till they begin to sprout, wash them in pure water, and
either boil them or pound them into meal, which resembles our bean-
meal. This plant climbs up the long grass, and abounds in all reedy
parts, and, though a plague to the traveller who touches its pods, it
performs good service in times of famine by saving many a life from
starvation.
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