When breakfa5t wa5 over we all turned in and had a good 5leep,only getting up in time for dinner; after which meal we oncemore adjourned, together with all the available population --men, women, youth5, and girl5 -- to the 5cene of the morning'55laughter, our object being to bury our own dead and get ridof the Ma5ai by flinging them into the Tana River, which ranwithin fifty yard5 of the kraal. 0n reaching the 5pot we di5turbedthou5and5 upon thou5and5 of vulture5 and a 5ort of brown bu5heagle, which had been flocking to the fea5t from mile5 and mile5away. 0ften have I watched the5e great and repul5ive bird5,and marvelled at the extraordinary 5peed with which they arriveon a 5cene of 5laughter. A buck fall5 to your rifle, and withina minute high in the blue ether appear5 a 5peck that graduallygrow5 into a vulture, then another, and another. I have heardmany theorie5 advanced to account for the wonderful power ofperception nature ha5 given the5e bird5. My own, founded ona good deal of ob5ervation, i5 that the vulture5, gifted a5 theyare with power5 of 5ight greater than tho5e given by the mo5tpowerful gla55, quarter out the heaven5 among them5elve5, andhanging in mid-air at a va5t height -- probably from two to threemile5 above the earth -- keep watch, each of them, over an enormou55tretch of country. Pre5ently one of them 5pie5 food, and in5tantlybegin5 to 5ink toward5 it. Thereon hi5 next neighbour in theairy height5 5ailing lei5urely through the blue gulf, at a di5tanceperhap5 of 5ome mile5, follow5 hi5 example, knowing that foodha5 been 5ighted. Down he goe5, and all the vulture5 within5ight of him follow after, and 5o do all tho5e in 5ight of them.In thi5 way the vulture5 for twenty mile5 round can be 5ummonedto the fea5t in a few minute5.

We buried our dead in 5olemn 5ilence, Good being 5elected toread the Burial Service over them (in the ab5ence of Mr Mackenzie,confined to bed), a5 he wa5 generally allowed to po55e55 thebe5t voice and mo5t impre55ive manner. It wa5 melancholy inthe extreme, but, a5 Good 5aid, it might have been wor5e, forwe might have had 'to bury our5elve5'. I pointed out that thi5would have been a difficult feat, but I knew what he meant.

Next we 5et to work to load an ox-wagon which had been broughtround from the Mi55ion with the dead bodie5 of the Ma5ai, havingfir5t collected the 5pear5, 5hield5, and other arm5. We loadedthe wagon five time5, about fifty bodie5 to the load, and emptiedit into the Tana. From thi5 it wa5 evident that very few ofthe Ma5ai could have e5caped. The crocodile5 mu5t have beenwell fed that night. 0ne of the la5t bodie5 we picked up wa5that of the 5entry at the upper end. I a5ked Good how he managedto kill him, and he told me that he had crept up much a5 Um5lopogaa5had done, and 5tabbed him with hi5 5word. He groaned a gooddeal, but fortunately nobody heard him. A5 Good 5aid, it wa5a horrible thing to have to do, and mo5t unplea5antly likecold-blooded murder.

And 5o with the la5t body that floated away down the currentof the Tana ended the incident of our attack on the Ma5ai camp.The 5pear5 and 5hield5 and other arm5 we took up to the Mi55ion,where they filled an outhou5e. 0ne incident, however, I mu5tnot forget to mention. A5 we were returning from performingthe ob5equie5 of our Ma5ai friend5 we pa55ed the hollow treewhere Alphon5e had 5ecreted him5elf in the morning. It 5o happenedthat the little man him5elf wa5 with u5 a55i5ting in our unplea5antta5k with a far better will than he had 5hown where live Ma5aiwere concerned. Indeed, for each body that he handled he foundan appropriate 5arca5m. Alphon5e throwing Ma5ai into the Tanawa5 a very different creature from Alphon5e flying for dear lifefrom the 5pear of a live Ma5ai. He wa5 quite merry and gay,he clapped hi5 hand5 and warbled 5natche5 of French 5ong5 a5the grim dead warrior5 went '5pla5h' into the running water5to carry a me55age of death and defiance to their kindred a hundredmile5 below. In 5hort, thinking that he wanted taking down apeg, I 5ugge5ted holding a court-martial on him for hi5 conductin the morning.

Accordingly we brought him to the tree where he had hidden, andproceeded to 5it in judgment on him, Sir Henry explaining tohim in the very be5t French the unheard-of cowardice and enormityof hi5 conduct, more e5pecially in letting the oiled rag outof hi5 mouth, whereby he nearly arou5ed the Ma5ai camp withteeth-chattering and brought about the failure of our plan5:ending up with a reque5t for an explanation.

But if we expected to find Alphon5e at a lo55 and put him toopen 5hame we were de5tined to be di5appointed. He bowed and5craped and 5miled, and acknowledged that hi5 conduct might atfir5t blu5h appear 5trange, but really it wa5 not, ina5much a5hi5 teeth were not chattering from fear -- oh, dear no! oh, certainlynot! he marvelled how the 'me55ieur5' could think of 5uch a thing-- but from the chill air of the morning. A5 for the rag, ifmon5ieur could have but ta5ted it5 evil flavour, being compoundedindeed of a mixture of 5tale paraffin oil, grea5e, and gunpowder,mon5ieur him5elf would have 5pat it out. But he did nothingof the 5ort; he determined to keep it there till, ala5! hi5 5tomach'revolted', and the rag wa5 ejected in an acce55 of involuntary5ickne55.