None of the natives came near me, but I knew by the singing, and shouting, and feasting, that something unusual was in the wind, and took the precaution of having every man on guard, and slept myself fully dressed, with my rifle handy, so as to be ready for any emergency. One pitch-dark night about eight or nine o’clock, a day or two after I had noticed the change of attitude on the part of the natives, the crisis came. There had been an ominous stillness around the camp for some time, when suddenly the air was rent by a wild uproar, and we heard the war-cry of the tribe spreading from village to village, mingled with the shrieking of women and children. Over all the din the hideous howl of the hyenas could be distinguished. These animals seem to realize when there is a feast of human flesh in store for them, and at the sound of the native war-cry, which warns them of a fight being at hand, they are always on the alert. The natives never bury their dead, but leave them for the hyenas to eat. All doubts as to the object of this demonstration were removed by the cries of “Kill the white man!” which could be heard above the other sounds resounding in the stillness of the night, and it may be imagined that my feelings were somewhat mixed—planted there out in the wilds as I was, with a crowd of yelling savages anxious to cut my throat swarming round my camp. The darkness added a good deal to the natural feeling of uneasiness, and I certainly did not feel very sanguine as to the outcome of this hostile demonstration; but all that I could do was to see that a strict watch was being kept, and make the best preparations I could to keep the enemy out if they should attack the camp. It was quite useless to think of packing up and clearing out, as we should have been pretty certain to have lost our way in the darkness, and have run a greater risk of being killed in the morning. Further, to have shown the white feather in this way now would have meant abandoning my project of going up into the country, and I was by no means disposed to give up my project. So I set to work as well as I could to build a kind of fort, using the boxes of trade goods, and anything else I could get, to make barricades. Having got all my people inside the enclosure, I warned them not to move out of it on any consideration, telling them not to be afraid, as we should come out of it all right. All the spare ammunition was placed ready to hand, and we were prepared for the attack when it should come.