150 ARRIVE AT KAHICHENe's KRAAL. 



tion is remarkable for its peculiar red stone, which is eagerly- 

 sought after by the natives. Having reduced it to powder, 

 they mix it with fat, when it is used as an ointment. I was 

 at first struck by its great resemblance to quicksilver ore, 

 and was led to believe that we had really discovered a mine 

 of that valuable mineral. However, on considering the 

 harmless effect it had on the natives, and that, had it been 

 quicksilver, its use would have produced an opposite result, 

 I came to the conclusion that it was simply oxide of iron, 

 which has since been confirmed by analysis. 



On arriving at Kahichene's werft we were well received 

 by our host and his tribe, from whom we obtained by barter 

 a few head of cattle. Indeed, we might here have sold all 

 our articles of exchange to great advantage ; but this was 

 not thought advisable, as, in case of the cattle being lost or 

 stolen, we should have been in a state of complete destitu- 

 tion. Could we, however, have foreseen the future, our tac- 

 tics would have been different ; for, as it afterward turned 

 out, this was almost the last opportunity we had of provid- 

 ing ourselves with live-stock. 



By a strange chance, I accidentally became the owner of a 

 percussion rifle, which had at one time belonged to Hans, 

 but who, years previously, had disposed of it to a Damara. 

 The latter, however, finding that he could not obtain a reg- 

 ular supply of caps, offered to exchange it for a common 

 flint-lock musket. The rifle was a very indifferent and clum- 

 sy-looking concern, and had, if I remember rightly, been 

 manufactured by Powell, of London. In justice to the 

 maker, however, I must confess that a man could not possi- 

 bly wish for a better. While in my possession, many hund- 

 red head of large game, to say nothing of a host of bustards, 

 geese, ducks, Guinea-fowl, &c., fell to this piece. 



Game was abundant in the neighborhood of Kahichene's 

 kraal, and Hans made several successful shots. Very little, 

 however, of what was killed reached us, for the portion not 



