, he had no doubt, would receive us well. The reason
why Selole acted in this foolish manner we afterward found to be this:
an Italian named Simoens, and nicknamed Siriatomba (don't eat tobacco),
had married the daughter of a chief called Sekokole, living north of
Tete. He armed a party of fifty slaves with guns, and, ascending the
river in canoes some distance beyond the island Meya makaba, attacked
several inhabited islands beyond, securing a large number of prisoners,
and much ivory. On his return, the different chiefs, at the instigation
of his father-in-law, who also did not wish him to set up as a chief,
united, attacked and dispersed the party of Simoens, and killed him
while trying to escape on foot. Selole imagined that I was another
Italian, or, as he expressed it, "Siriatomba risen from the dead." In
his message to Mburuma he even said that Mobala, and all the villages
beyond, were utterly destroyed by our fire-arms, but the sight of Mobala
himself, who had come to the village of Selole, led the brother of
Mburuma to see at once that it was all a hoax. But for this, the foolish
fellow Selole might have given us trouble.

We saw many of the liberated captives of this Italian among the villages
here, and Sekwebu found them to be Matebele. The brother of Mburuma had
a gun, which was the first we had seen in coming eastward. Before we
reached Mburuma my men went to attack a troop of elephants, as they were
much in need of meat. When the troop began to run, one of them fell
into a hole, and before he could extricate himself an opportunity was
afforded for all the men to throw their spears. When he rose he was like
a huge porcupine, for each of the seventy or eighty men had discharged
more than one spear at him. As they had no more, they sent for me to
finish him. In order to put him at once out of pain, I went to within
twenty yards, there being a bank between us which he could not readily
climb. I rested the gun upon an ant-hill so as to take a steady aim;
but, though I fired twelve two-ounce bullets, all I had, into different
parts, I could not kill him. As it was becoming dark, I advised my men
to let him stand, being sure of finding him dead in the morning; but,
though we searched all the next day, and went more than ten miles, we
never saw him again. I mention this to young men who may think that they
will be able to hunt elephants on foot by adopting the Ceylon practice
of killing them by one ball in the brai