418 Mr. Bain's Visit to the Interior Tribes 



even those from begging, whose good fortune it was to cai. 

 several pieces in the scramble. 



Having been here about two hours, we at last saw hit 

 majesty advancing towards our wagons 



" Stately aDd slow, and properly attended " 



by about twenty of the same people who were with him in the 

 morning. He carried in his hand a parasol, made of ostrich 

 feathers, and was dressed in the kobo or caross which he had 

 on when I first saw him, without any other ornament on his 

 body, except two or three cords round his neck, to one of 

 which was appended a small bit of glass, and to another a 

 little root, said to be an excellent cure for the head-ache, 

 when reduced to powder and taken as snuff, and a certain 

 charm against all sickness '. Had it pleased the Fates and 

 the worthy Barolongs, to have discovered unto me the plant 

 to which this inestimable root belonged, more valuable by 

 far than the so-much-sought-for Philosopher's stone, my 

 name would be handed down to posterity with ten thousand 

 times more honor than is paid to the names of a Hunter, or 

 even a Jenner ! 



On the king's approach, the crowd instinctively made way 

 for him, and, on the whole, shewed him a good deal of res- 

 pect. Our ears were no longer dinned with that insufferable 

 noise which such an accumulation of voices made, each vo- 

 ciferating his sage remarks louder than his neighbour, on the 

 white people and their moving houses. He accosted us, as 

 we expected, with — " Mpamuchuco," (give me tobacco,) when 

 I handed him a large roll which I had ready for that purpose. 

 He received it very cooly, and although of a description he 

 had never seen before, gave it to one of his attendants to 

 take home without looking at it. We asked him his reason 

 for living at a place where the water was so infamously bad, 

 to which he replied that he intended moving, in a few days, to 

 his old town, about two days journey up the Mallapo, whence 

 he had been driven some time ago by the Mantatees ; and gave 

 us to understand that he expected us to accompany him thither. 

 He had scarcely concluded this speech, which was the longest 

 he had yet favored us with, when he again held out his hand 

 for tobacco, but we did not think proper to favor his demand ; 

 well knowing, from experience, that all our stock would not 

 be sufficient to gratify the avaricious importunities of a Bi- 

 chuana chief. We gave, however, each of his attendants a 

 small supply, when his majesty, turning round, muttered 

 something in the shape of a salutation, and departed in tin- 

 same order he had observed on his arrival. 



The clamour and confusion of tongues re-commenced the 



