INSIDE OF THE ZERIBA. 211 and stocking-caps, whilst a good many wore regulation British trousers, with red or yellow stripes. On my asking where they got them from, they told me simply that they had walked about amongst the Ingleez, and taken whatever they could pick up. This propensity evidently accounted for many deficiencies in our weekly kit-inspections. They had not the smallest notions of meum and tuum ; everything was public property, even amongst themselves. If you saw some quaint article lying about, and wished to possess it, the nearest person, whether he was the proprietor or not, would sell it to you and pocket the proceeds. They were very keen soldiers, and, if you made friends with them, nearly every one had a pet spear-head or sword, covered with dried blood and hair, which he produced out of some inner recess in his shanty, and showed with great pride. Although already armed with Remingtons, most of them had two or three spears or a sword to use at close quarters.

Several of them were very keen to buy off me a particularly neat spear I had picked up. They balanced it, grinned, and showed a great liking for p 2