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Yonge, Charlotte Mary, 1823-1901

"Stories by English Authors: Africa (Selected by Scribners)"

I did all the shooting, and I'm not a bit ashamed of it; but, by
the eternal God, if you open your lips to a soul, I'll shoot you like
a dog or a cannibal! Remember that, sonny, and say it quietly over
to yourself the first time you feel that you want to blab. Now, shake
hands."
This was probably the longest speech that Whitson had ever made.
About two years after the events narrated, Whitson took his discharge
and returned to America. He left behind him a sealed packet addressed
to his commanding officer, and which was not to be delivered for twelve
months after his departure.
Owing, however, to a strange combination of fortuitous circumstances,
this packet never reached its proper destination; its wrapper, bearing
the address, having been scorched off in a fire which took place in the
house where it was left.

NOTE
Many people have heard or read of the cannibals of Natal, who turned
large tracts of country into a shambles in the early part of this
century, after Tshaka's impis had swept off all the cattle, and then
kept the miserable people continually on the move so that they were
unable to cultivate.


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