The National tribune., 1899-12-21

to see clearly, | could not ascertain. but
certain it is that wildcat worked her way
through the bottom of the grass hut and
attacked the ostricles.
These wildcats are smaller than the
leopard, but similarly spotted; they are
very slender and agile, and where their head
passes through they manage to get their
whole body through. They are most de-
structive, as they do not, like other wild
beasts, strike down one animal and tear it
up, but they fly at the throat of an animal,
suck the blood, and strike another animal in
the same way.
Twas sleeping pretty soundly. when l was
| awakened by the guard about o'clock in
| the morning. He told me that there was a
tgreat struggle going on i'll the ostrich
stable. / jumped up and hastily snatched
| up my revolver, telling the man to get the
lantern from the guard-room.
In the meantime, some of the soldiers,
| who had been alarmed by the guard, had
| turned out with their guns. and We all
quickly proceeded 10 the stable. | Sus-
pected at once that some wild beast had got
in, and told the soldiers to level their guns
and be ready to fire at anything that might
| rush against us, as soon as L gave the
word. l was ready with my revolver.
When l arrived at the stable, / had the
door, which was composed of wooden
boards and held in place by a large stone,
quickly removed, and holding up the
lantern high with one hand l beheld a
sickenng sight. Before me lay the three
| fine oStrlches, each with the throat bitten
| through and blood still oozing from the
wounds. The hens were quite dead, but
the cock was still striking out with the legs
| in the last death thrOeS. There was no
sign of the wildcat, only next morning we
| found her tracks and a small hole where
she had worked her way through into the
hut.
This was severe blow to me, as the birds
| had shown signs that they would breed
| soon, and had hoped to raise small family
of ostriches from them. Now all had left
| were the three small ostrches; these little
| fellows gave me a lot of trouble, as L had to
keep them over night in an old packing
case in my tent. This case was lined with
dry grass and flannel and covered with an
old blanket. Every now and then in the
night one of the chickens would try to
| tumble out of the box, and when they got
| taller, they sometimes succeeded III that
| trick, too, before | woke up. The guard
would then have TO run after the fugitive,
| and after an exciting chase bring him back.
| This was of course not very conducive TO
q quiet nights rest, and as soon as possible
| | had little stone house built for them,
| from which they could not escape, and
where they would be safe from wild beasts.
| At that time some other troubles occurred,
too, which easily might have led to serious
| consequences. There had always been a
| brought from the coast and the Somali sol
dierS; the Somalis considering themselves
far superior to Nasal slaves.
1t was the duty of the chief Somali-the
| r-Sergeant-to each day distribute the
| food to all hands at noon. The rations
| consisted Of meat Gf there was any either
fresh or dried, beans. bananas, banana
| meal, corn, or cornmeal, etc; in fact, what
ever there was to be had at the time.
The chief of the Masais, whose name was
Zendeo. would receive the rations for all his
people There had been some additions to the
original number, both men and women,
since we had erected the staton) and dole it
out TO them. The Sergeant was very fond
Df cutting these rationS down to the very
narrowest possible limit, and as Zendeo Of
course wanted to get as much as he could,
tinual chickering's between these two.
Zendeo had complained to me several
times about shortage. and I had tO'see that
times cautioned the Sergeant, but although
he was strictly obedient in all other matters
and a thoroughly good and trustworthy
soldier, he would always break through in
this matter.
THE MASAIS REBEL.
One day, just between Christmas and
New Year, the matter came to a crisis. /
happened to be alone that day, as the other
members of the expedition were attending
TO duties outside of the camp. One was
burning lime, with a party of the carriers,
some distance from camp; another was
surveying, while the third was picking out
large trees TO be felled. / WAS having my