To say nothing of the
expenditure of ammunition, it meant incessant work.
Against this the Zulu hunters soon began to murmur, for, as Stephen
and I could rarely leave the camp, the burden of it fell on them.
Ultimately I hit upon this scheme. Picking out thirty or forty of the
likeliest men among the slaves, I served out to each of them
ammunition and one of the Arab guns, in the use of which we drilled
them as best we could. Then I told them that they must provide
themselves and their companions with meat. Of course accidents
happened. One man was accidentally shot and three others were killed
by a cow elephant and a wounded buffalo. But in the end they learned
to handle their rifles sufficiently well to supply the camp. Moreover,
day by day little parties of the slaves disappeared, I presume to seek
their own homes, so that when at last we entered the borders of the
Mazitu country there were not more than fifty of them left, including
seventeen of those whom we had taught to shoot.
Then it was that our real adventures began.
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