If caravans were every-day things to them, whilst they - the free
and unconquerable lords of the forest and the marsh - had nothing
in common with the cowardly bipeds, who never found courage to face
them in fair combat. The destruction which a herd makes in a forest
is simply tremendous. When the trees are young whole swathes may
be found uprooted and prostrate, which mark the track of the
elephants as they "trampled their path through wood and brake."
The boy Selim was so ill at this place that I was compelled to
halt the caravan for him for two days. He seemed to be affected
with a disease in the limbs, which caused him to sprawl, and
tremble most painfully, besides suffering from an attack of acute
dysentery. But constant attendance and care soon brought him round
again; and on the third day he was able to endure the fatigue of
riding.
I was able to shoot several animals during our stay at Mrera. The
forest outside of the cultivation teems with noble animals. Zebra,
giraffe, elephant, and rhinoceros are most common; ptarmigan and
guinea-fowl were also plentiful.
The warriors of Mrera are almost all armed with muskets, of which
they take great care. They were very importunate in their demands
for flints, bullets, and powder, which I always made it a point to
refuse, lest at any moment a fracas occurring they might use the
ammunition thus supplied to my own disadvantage.
