These pieces of copper scared our men considerably at first, for the muskets from which they were fired were not rifles, and the bullets arrived on our side of the river with a horrid shriek.

From the island, which was only four hundred yards off, these bolts were very effective; and some of them fired from the town itself occasionally dropped in among us, though the nearest point across the river was over nine hundred yards. A large herd of cattle we could see in Nyangwe sometimes afforded us sport. On one occasion when they were brought down to the river bank to drink (their herdsmen being unaware that we were lying in the reeds opposite them), we killed or wounded a number of them. The herd became enraged, and seemed further annoyed by their masters, who were returning our fire from the trenches in their neighbourhood.