general of his forces, a fat fellow with a face exactly
like a pig. The sun beat down with such tremendous force that, though
we had only three-quarters of a mile to walk, we felt quite tired by
the time we reached the Chief's kraals. Passing through several cattle
kraals, we came to a shed under which sat the heir-apparent dressed in
a gorgeous blanket with his court around him. Leaving him, we entered an
inner cattle kraal, where, in one corner, stood a large, roughly-built
shed, under the shade of which squatted over a hundred of the head men
of the tribe, gathered together by Secocoeni to "witness."[*]

[*] As each chief came up to the meeting-place he would pass
before the enclosure where Secocoeni was sitting and salute
him, by softly striking the hands together, and saying
something that sounded like "Marema."

Opening out of this kraal was the chief's private enclosure, where stood
his huts. As we drew near, Secocoeni, who had inspired such terror into
the bold Burghers of the Republic, the chief of nine thousand warriors,
the husband of sixty-four wives, the father of a hundred children, rose
from the ox-hide on which he was seated, under the shade of a tree, and
came to the gate to meet us. And a queer sight this potentate was as
he stood there shaking hands through the gate. Of middle age, about
forty-five years of age, rather fat, with a flat nose, and small,
twinkling, black eyes, he presented an entirely hideous and
semi-repulsive appearance. His dress consisted of a cotton blanket
over which was thrown a tiger-skin kaross, and on his head was stuck
an enormous old white felt hat, such as the Boers wear, and known as a
"wilderbeeste chaser."

After we had been duly introduced, he retreated to his ox-hide, and we
went and squatted down among the head men. Secocoeni took no active
part in the proceedings that followed; he sat in his enclosure and
occasionally shouted out some instructions to Makurupiji, who was
literally his "mouth," speaking for him and making use of the pronoun
"I." During the four hours or so that we were there Secocoeni never
stopped chewing an intoxicating green leaf, very much resembling that of
the pomegranate, of which he occasionally sent us some.

After the business of the Commission had come to an end, and some of our
party started on their homeward journey, we were detained by Secocoeni,
who wished to see us privately. He sent for us to his private enclosu