he apology that he had no fowls, and very little of any other
food. It was impossible to avoid a laugh at the coolness of the generous
creatures. I was truly thankful, nevertheless, that, though resolved to
die rather than deliver up one of our number to be a slave, we had so
far gained our point as to be allowed to pass on without having shed
human blood.

In the midst of the commotion, several Chiboque stole pieces of meat
out of the sheds of my people, and Mohorisi, one of the Makololo, went
boldly into the crowd and took back a marrow-bone from one of them.
A few of my Batoka seemed afraid, and would perhaps have fled had the
affray actually begun, but, upon the whole, I thought my men behaved
admirably. They lamented having left their shields at home by command
of Sekeletu, who feared that, if they carried these, they might be more
disposed to be overbearing in their demeanor to the tribes we should
meet. We had proceeded on the principles of peace and conciliation, and
the foregoing treatment shows in what light our conduct was viewed; in
fact, we were taken for interlopers trying to cheat the revenue of
the tribe. They had been accustomed to get a slave or two from every
slave-trader who passed them, and now that we disputed the right, they
viewed the infringement on what they considered lawfully due with most
virtuous indignation.

MARCH 6TH. We were informed that the people on the west of the Chiboque
of Njambi were familiar with the visits of slave-traders; and it was the
opinion of our guides from Kangenke that so many of my companions would
be demanded from me, in the same manner as the people of Njambi had
done, that I should reach the coast without a single attendant; I
therefore resolved to alter our course and strike away to the N.N.E.,
in the hope that at some point farther north I might find an exit to the
Portuguese settlement of Cassange. We proceeded at first due north, with
the Kasabi villages on our right, and the Kasau on our left. During
the first twenty miles we crossed many small, but now swollen streams,
having the usual boggy banks, and wherever the water had stood for any
length of time it was discolored with rust of iron. We saw a "nakong"
antelope one day, a rare sight in this quarter; and many new and pretty
flowers adorned the valleys. We could observe the difference in the
seasons in our northing in company with the sun. Summer was now nearly
over at Kuruman, and far advanced at Linya