COPPER ORE A FALSE FRIEND JONATHAN AFRIBL^. 349 



whether above the plain or the level of the sea. Be that as 

 it may, however, I do not think either estimation correct. 

 jVIr. VoUmer, who once, with great labor, crossed the table 

 of Tans in his own wagon, informed me that its western as- 

 pect, or the side facing the Kuisip, is very steep and high, 

 but the eastern slope is gradual, and not a great deal elevated 

 above the plain. 



The rocks all about Eehoboth are strongly impregnated 

 vnth copper, and specimens of the ore of a very productive 

 quality (forty to ninety per cent.) are occasionally found. I 

 presented ]Mr. Reid with several pieces, giving him permission 

 to use them as he thought fit. I advised him, however, to 

 get them analyzed by Mr. Schmieterleuv, whom I knew to 

 be a straightforward man ; but he preferred to subject them 



to his own friend. Dr. G . After about a year s absence 



I met ]Mr. Keid again, and on asking him what advantage 

 he had derived from the copper I gave to him, he replied, 



" Xone whatever. Di;. G declared the specimens were 



worthless." Yet not long afterward he went into partner- 

 ship with a certain merchant on the strength of these identi- 

 cal specimens- So much for friendship ! 



Captain Zwartbooi's people had started off to Damara-land 

 under pretext of looking out for fountains, but the sequel 

 proved it was solely with a view of stealing cattle. The ex- 

 ample set them by Jonker, Cornelius, and others, was too 

 strono; to be longer withstood. 



One evening Jonathan Afrika presented himself at the sta- 

 tion. I had already, at Barmen, seen this man, who was of 

 Bechuana extraction, but had been brought up among civil- 

 ized people. A shrewder fellow I never came across. He 

 bore an excellent character throughout the country. When 



he first arrived he accompanied Mr. M , the trader, in 



whose service he suffered much privation. 



Jonathan, who soon afterward entered into my seryice, was 

 a man of great courage and an excellent marksman. He 



