ed
that the huge beast could not retire, than, with springing bounds, the
men, all spear in hand, as if advancing on an enemy, went top speed at
him, over rise and fall alike, till, as they neared the maddened bull,
he instinctively advanced to meet his assailants with the best charge
his exhausted body could muster up. Wind, however, failed him soon; he
knew his disadvantage, and tried to hide by plunging in the water,--the
worst policy he could have pursued, for the men from the bank above him
soon covered him with bristling spears, and gained their victory. Now,
what was to be done with this huge carcass? No one could be induced to
leave it. A cow was ordered as a bribe on reaching camp; but no, the
buffalo was bigger than a cow, and must be quartered on the spot; so,
to gain our object, we went ahead and left the rear men to follow, thus
saving a cow in rations, for we required to slaughter one every day.

By dint of hard perseverance we accomplished ten miles over the same
downs of tall grass with occasional swamps. We saw a herd of hartebeest,
and reached at night a place within easy run of Koki in Gani.

The weather had now become fine. At length we reached the habitations
of men--a collection of conical huts on the ridge of a small chain of
granitic hills lying north-west. As we approached the southern extremity
of this chain, knots of naked men, perched like monkeys on the granite
blocks were anxiously awaiting our arrival. The guides, following the
usages of the country, instead of allowing us to mount the hill and
look out for accommodation at once, desired us to halt, and sent on a
messenger to inform Chongi, the governor-general, that we were visitors
from Kamrasi, who desired he would take care of us and forward us to our
brothers. This Mercury brought forth a hearty welcome; for Chongi had
been appointed governor by Kamrasi of this district, which appears to
have been the extreme northern limit of the originally vast kingdom
of Kittara. All the elite of the place, covered with war-paints, and
dressed, so far as their nakedness was covered at all, like clowns in
a fair, charging down the hill full tilt with their spears, and, after
performing their customary evolutions, mingled with our men, and invited
us up the hill, where we no sooner arrived than Chongi, a very old man,
attended by his familiar, advanced to receive us--one holding a white
hen, the other a small gourd of pombe and a little twig.

Chon