e ill, a halt was made here.

As we were unable to march next morning, six of our young men, anxious to
try their muskets, went off to hunt elephants. For several hours they
saw nothing, and some of them, getting tired, proposed to go to a village
and buy food. "No!" said Mantlanyane, "we came to hunt, so let us go
on." In a short time they fell in with a herd of cow elephants and
calves. As soon as the first cow caught sight of the hunters on the
rocks above her, she, with true motherly instinct, placed her young one
between her fore-legs for protection. The men were for scattering, and
firing into the herd indiscriminately. "That won't do," cried
Mantlanyane, "let us all fire at this one." The poor beast received a
volley, and ran down into the plain, where another shot killed her; the
young one escaped with the herd. The men were wild with excitement, and
danced round the fallen queen of the forest, with loud shouts and
exultant songs. They returned, bearing as trophies the tail and part of
the trunk, and marched into camp as erect as soldiers, and evidently
feeling that their stature had increased considerably since the morning.

Sandia's wife was duly informed of their success, as here a law decrees
that half the elephant belongs to the chief on whose ground it has been
killed. The Portuguese traders always submit to this tax, and, were it
of native origin, it could hardly be considered unjust. A chief must
have some source of revenue; and, as many chiefs can raise none except
from ivory or slaves, this tax is more free from objections than any
other that a black Chancellor of the Exchequer could devise. It seems,
however, to have originated with the Portuguese themselves, and then to
have spread among the adjacent tribes. The Governors look sharply after
any elephant that may be slain on the Crown lands, and demand one of the
tusks from their vassals. We did not find the law in operation in any
tribe beyond the range of Portuguese traders, or further than the sphere
of travel of those Arabs who imitated Portuguese customs in trade. At
the Kafue in 1855 the chiefs bought the meat we killed, and demanded
nothing as their due; and so it was up the Shire during our visits. The
slaves of the Portuguese, who are sent by their masters to shoot
elephants, probably connive at the extension of this law, for they strive
to get the good will of the chiefs to whose country they come, by
advising them to make a