f it be true that a wife
finds life with her husband too harsh to be borne, she may seek the
chief's protection, and the chief may give her to another husband who
will treat her properly.

But before the chief had chosen the man to whom he would give her,
Mafala went to a crocodile--for it turned out that he was a Mganga, a
witch-man who had dealings with reptiles on land, as well as with the
monsters of the river,--and he bargained with it to catch her as she
came to the river to wash, and carry her up to a certain place on the
river bank where there was a tall tree with a large hole in it.

The crocodile bided his chance, and one morning, when Maranda visited
the water, he seized her by the hand, and swept her onto his back, and
carried her to the hiding-place in the hollow tree. He then left her
there, and swam down opposite the village, and signalled to Mafala that
he had performed his part of the bargain.

On the crocodile's departure Maranda looked about the hole, and saw that
she was in a kind of pit, but a long way up the hollow narrowed like the
neck of a gourd, and she could see foliage and a bit of sky. She
determined to climb up, and though she scratched herself very much, she
finally managed to reach the very top, and to crawl outside into the
air. The tree was very large and lofty, and the branches spread out
far, and they were laden with the heavy fruit of which elephants are so
fond [the jackfruit]. At first she thought that she could not starve
because of so many of these big fruit; then, as they were large and
heavy, she conceived the idea that they might be useful to defend
herself, and she collected a great number of them, and laid them in a
heap over some sticks she had laid across the branches.

By-and-by Mafala came, and discovered her high up among the foliage, and
after jeering at her, began to climb the tree. But when he was only
half-way up, Maranda lifted one of the ponderous fruit and flung it on
his head, and he fell to the ground with his senses all in a whirl and
his back greatly bruised. When he recovered he begged the crocodile to
help him, and he tried to climb up, but when he had ascended but a
little way, Maranda dropped one of the elephant fruit fairly on his
snout, which sent him falling backwards. Mafala then begged two great
serpents to ascend and bring her down, but Maranda met them with the
heavy fruit one after another, and they were glad to leave her alone.
Then th