elds; he soon fell under the
blows and stabs that were freely given to him.

The idea of dining off these two bucks was too great a temptation for my
black companions to resist; they were now bent on eating, and I saw
preparations made for lighting a fire, for which neither lucifer nor
flint-and-steel were used.

Two dry sticks, one being of hard and the other of soft wood, were the
materials used. The soft stick was laid on the ground, and held firmly
down by one Kaffir, whilst another employed himself in scooping out a
little hole in the centre of it with the point of his assagy; into this
little hollow the end of the hard wood was placed and held vertically.
These two men sat face to face, one taking the vertical stick between
the palms of his hands, and making it twist about very quickly, while
the other Kaffir held the lower stick firmly in its place; the friction
caused by the end of one piece of wood revolving on the other soon made
the two pieces smoke. When the Kaffir who twisted became tired, the
respective duties were exchanged. These operations having continued
about a couple of minutes, sparks began to appear, and, when they became
numerous, were gathered into some dry grass, which was then swung round
at arm's length until a blaze was established; and a roaring fire was
gladdening the hearts of the Kaffirs with the anticipation of a glorious
feast in about ten minutes from the time that the operation was first
commenced.

I joined the party as usual on these occasions, and did great credit to
an Englishman's eating powers. I was much amused at the cool manner in
which Inkau treated some of the men present, who seemed to be considered
amongst the lower class of Kaffirs. He cut up the bucks with his own
hands, thereby securing the best and most choice bits for himself and
me; while every now and then he would look round the circle of black and
expecting faces, and chuck the common pieces, or tough bits, to these
poor wretches, who snatched them up, and after half-cooking them, bolted
piece after piece, like hungry curs.

These two bucks, although each weighed about 120 pounds, were only
sufficient for a light luncheon for the Kaffirs; although to me the men
seemed to be crammed like boa-constrictors. They showed a great
disinclination to move after their repast, although they complained that
they were still _lambile_ (hungry). An immense quantity of snuff was
consumed, the tears coursing each othe