f Falsehood--War-dance--Insanity and Disappearance
of Monahin--Fruitless Search--Monina's Sympathy--The Sand-river
Tangwe--The Ordeal Muavi: its Victims--An unreasonable Man--"Woman's
Rights"--Presents--Temperance--A winding Course to shun Villages--
Banyai Complexion and Hair--Mushrooms--The Tubers, Mokuri--The Tree
Shekabakadzi--Face of the Country--Pot-holes--Pursued by a Party
of Natives--Unpleasant Threat--Aroused by a Company of Soldiers--A
civilized Breakfast--Arrival at Tete.

14TH. We left Nyampungo this morning. The path wound up the Molinge,
another sand-river which flows into the Nake. When we got clear of the
tangled jungle which covers the banks of these rivulets, we entered the
Mopane country, where we could walk with comfort. When we had gone on
a few hours, my men espied an elephant, and were soon in full pursuit.
They were in want of meat, having tasted nothing but grain for several
days. The desire for animal food made them all eager to slay him, and,
though an old bull, he was soon killed. The people of Nyampungo had
never seen such desperadoes before. One rushed up and hamstrung
the beast, while still standing, by a blow with an axe. Some Banyai
elephant-hunters happened to be present when my men were fighting with
him. One of them took out his snuff-box, and poured out all its contents
at the root of a tree as an offering to the Barimo for success. As soon
as the animal fell, the whole of my party engaged in a wild, savage
dance round the body, which quite frightened the Banyai, and he who made
the offering said to me, "I see you are traveling with people who don't
know how to pray: I therefore offered the only thing I had in their
behalf, and the elephant soon fell." One of Nyampungo's men, who
remained with me, ran a little forward, when an opening in the trees
gave us a view of the chase, and uttered loud prayers for success in
the combat. I admired the devout belief they all possessed in the actual
existence of unseen beings, and prayed that they might yet know that
benignant One who views us all as his own. My own people, who are rather
a degraded lot, remarked to me as I came up, "God gave it to us. He
said to the old beast, 'Go up there; men are come who will kill and eat
you.'" These remarks are quoted to give the reader an idea of the native
mode of expression.

As we were now in the country of stringent game-laws, we were obliged
to send all the way back to Nyampungo, to give informa