to slay the beast, who escapes from the
jungle and dies afar from the encounter. When this occurs, an
attendant is despatched for a reinforcement, and I have seen a whole
settlement go forth _en masse_ to search for the monster that will
furnish food for many a day. Sometimes the crowd is disappointed, for
the wounds have been slight and the animal is seen no more.
Occasionally, a dying elephant will linger a long time, and is only
discovered by the buzzards hovering above his body. Then it is that
the bushmen, guided by the vultures, haste to the forest, and fall
upon the putrid flesh with more avidity than birds of prey. Battles
have been fought on the carcass of an elephant, and many a slave,
captured in the conflict, has been marched from the body to the beach.

CHAPTER LXXIII.

The war, whose rupture I mentioned at the end of the seventieth
chapter, spread rapidly throughout our borders; and absorbing the
entire attention of the tribe, gave an impulse to slavery which had
been unwitnessed since my advent to the Cape. The reader may readily
appreciate the difficulty of my position in a country, hemmed in by
war which could only be terminated by slaughter or slavery. Nor could
I remain neutral in New Florence, which was situated on the same side
of the river as Toso, while the enemies of Fana-Toro were in complete
possession of the opposite bank.

When I felt that the rupture between the British and myself was not
only complete but irreparable, I had less difficulty in deciding my
policy as to the natives; and, chiefly under the impulse of
self-protection, I resolved to serve the cause of my ancient ally. I
made whatever fortifications could be easily defended in case of
attack, and, by way of show, mounted some cannon on a boat which was
paraded about the waters in a formidable way. My judgment taught me
from the outset that it was folly to think of joining actively in the
conflict; for, while I had but three white men in my quarters, and the
colonists had returned to Monrovia, my New Sestros experience taught
me the value of bondsmen's backing.

Numerous engagements and captures took place by both parties, so that
my doors were daily besieged by a crowd of wretches sent by Fana-Toro
to be purchased _for shipment_. I declined the contract with firmness
and constancy, but so importunate was the chief that I could not
resist his desire that a Spanish factor might come within my limits
with merchandise fr