We saw three or four of the enemy scouting on the edge of the forest,
and I was asked to try to pick one off, but before I could fire
they had disappeared. Then several Notus ran out brandishing spears,
and danced a war-dance in front of the forest, but their invitation
was not accepted. We next saw several armed scouts on a small tree
about five hundred yards away, and we all lined up and gave them
a volley; whether we hit any of them or not it is hard to say, but
they dropped down immediately into the long grass. At any rate, it
must have astonished them to hear the bullets whistling round them,
even if they were not hit, as it was the first time they had ever
heard the report of a firearm of any description. Some of the police
went out to sneak through the long grass, and we soon heard shots,
and they came back with the spears, clubs and shields of two men
they had killed. They also brought a curious fighting ornament worn
on the head, made of upper bills of the hornbill.
We continued our march through some thick forest, and at length came
to the banks of a river, where we suddenly crouched down. An armed
man was crawling along the river bed, peering in all directions, and
shouting out to his friends on the opposite bank.
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