e Dutch Boer, when he
travels, makes his waggon his house, and is thus as independent as an
English gipsy. I took the first opportunity of landing, and making the
acquaintance of the few Dutchmen who resided at Natal. My knowledge of
the Dutch language, which I had acquired at Cape Town, was now of great
use. I thought it prudent not to let the Dutchmen know of my
experiences in the country, but to be quite independent of them in my
future proceedings. I made arrangements for the hire of a pony during
my stay in the country, and also two oxen, which had been trained to
carry packages and were termed pack-oxen by the Boers. I believed that
I had so altered that none of my old Caffre comrades would recognise me,
and I intended to travel among them--at least at first--without letting
them know who I was.

One of the Boers asked me to stay at his house, but I preferred
remaining on the ship until I made my start up the country.

The first visit I paid was to the kraal of Umnini, near the Umlass
river. I took one of the Caffre servants of the Boer with me; this
Caffre could speak Dutch, and I wanted to conceal my knowledge of Caffre
for some time, so I spoke to him in Dutch, and asked him to speak in
Caffre to the Caffres.

On arriving at the kraal of Umnini, I was interested as to whether I
should be recognised by these men. During the interval that had elapsed
since I was last at the kraal of Umnini, I had increased in height, and
had developed whiskers; the change in my appearance, therefore, was
considerable, and I considered it unlikely that I should be remembered.
The Caffre with me told the people of the kraal that I was one of the
Boers, he knowing no better, and that I had come to trade, and wished
for leopards' skins and elephants' tusks.

Several of the men who were present I remembered: these men had been
with me often, but although they looked at me very hard they none of
them seemed to remember me. Having ascertained from my Caffre that I
could not speak their language, they made their remarks on me very
freely. These remarks were complimentary. They said I did not look
like a Boer, but must be a young chief. "He has the head of a chief,"
said one man, and the others agreed with him. They also decided that I
must be strong and a good runner. These and other similar remarks I
listened to with much amusement, but without giving the slightest sign
that I understood what they were saying. After a