e Bechuana or Caffre language, with very
slight variations; they are all governed by chiefs or kings, and
subdivided into numerous bodies; but they are all Caffres. Of their
characters I have only to observe, that as far as we have experienced,
the Caffres of the eastern coast, which we have just left, are very
superior to the others in courage and in every other good quality. Now,
have I made myself intelligible, Alexander?"

"Most clearly so."

"I nevertheless wish we were sitting down in some safe place instead of
traveling on horseback over this withered tract, and that I had the map
before me to make you understand better."

"I will refer to the map as soon as I can," replied Alexander; "but I
have studied the map a great deal, and therefore do not so much require
it."

All these Caffre tribes live much the same life; their wealth is in
cattle; they are partly husbandmen, partly herdsmen, and partly hunters;
and their continual conflicts with the wild beasts of the country
prepare them for warriors. The Eastern Caffres, from whom we have lately
parted, are the most populous; indeed, now that we have taken from them
so much of their country, they have scarcely pasturage for their cattle.
I have said that the Eastern Caffres' territory extends as far as the
latitude of Port Natal, but it formerly extended much further to the
northward, as it did to the southward, before we drove them from their
territory; indeed as far north as Delagoa Bay; all the country between
Port Natal and Delagoa Bay being formerly inhabited by tribes of
Caffres. I believe, Alexander, that Mr. Fairburn gave you a history of
the celebrated monarch Chaka, the king of the Zulus?"

"Yes, he did."

"Well, it was Chaka who overran that country I am now speaking of, and
drove out all the tribes who occupied it, as well as a large portion of
the Bechuana tribes who inhabited lands more to the northward. Now the
irruptions we have had into the Caffre and Bechuana country bordering
upon the colony have been wholly brought about by the devastations
committed by Chaka. Of course I refer to those irruptions which have
taken place since our knowledge and possession of the Cape. I have no
doubt that such irruptions have been continued, and that they have
occurred once in every century for ages. They have been brought about by
a population increasing beyond the means of subsistence, and have taken
place as soon as the overplus have required it.

"The