-west, and the Lebomba hills on the
south-east. In this region no men dwell: except the wretched "Balala," naked
and weaponless fugitives from the Tonga and other tribes, whose
villages had been destroyed in war, and who had escaped to lead a life
in the desert compared with which death by the spear would have been
merciful.

The existence of the dreaded tsetse fly, whose bite is fatal to any
domestic animal, accounted for the lack of human inhabitants. The
cattle which Kondwana's men brought with them began to droop, and soon
could proceed no further. After being bitten by the tsetse, animals
gradually waste away, and sometimes live on for months, becoming more
and more emaciated. If, however, rain happens to fall, they die off
very quickly. The men set to work and killed all the remaining cattle.
They ate what they could of the meat, loaded themselves and the captive
women with as much of the remainder as could be carried, and then
traveled as swiftly as they could in a north-easterly direction,
towards the Limpopo river. Once across the Limpopo, they knew they
could easily reach the Makalaka country, where, doubtless, loot
abounded. They knew all about this from the Balala, whom they from time
to time captured and questioned. None of these could, however, give any
information as to where the copper ore had come from.

In the meantime, game was plentiful, although somewhat difficult to
capture. Their most successful mode of hunting was this;--about a
hundred men would lie in ambush in some place where, judging from the
footmarks, wild animals were in the habit of passing. These men would
take cover wherever they could, breaking off branches of trees for
purposes of concealment where growing reeds, shrubs or grass did not
suffice. They would lie or crouch about five yards from each other, in
three lines about ten yards apart.

The remainder of the contingent would then divide into two parties, one
of which would extend to the right and the other to the left, in open
order, each party forming a long chain gradually stretching out. The
leaders, after going out a certain distance, would curve inward towards
each other until they met. A large area would thus be enclosed. As soon
as the chains joined, by the leaders meeting, the grass was set alight,
and immediately afterward smoke arose at numerous points around the
enclosed space, whilst the men all rushed inwards towards the ambush.
The terrified game, seeing themselv