of Southern Africa. 427 



discovered him pulling the trigger with all his might, or I 

 certainly should have been in possession of the honor which 

 he intended for the chicooroo. 



In the mean time, after the enraged brute had shewn more 

 cunning than any we had yet met with, in chasing us round 

 the bush, and, I may say, playing at bo peep with us ; a num- 

 ber of the natives coming to our assistance, and loudly shout- 

 ing, it gallopped furiously off, pursued by them about a mile, 

 when, becoming weak from the loss of blood, it fell a victim 

 to the evil effects of the little ball. 



We pursued our journey, and in about an hour more reached 

 the valley of Siloqualaly, which we found literally strewed with 

 human skulls, it having been, a short time before, the theatre 

 of a bloody battle between the Mantatees and Bawanketzie, in 

 which, Makabba, the celebrated king of the latter nation, and 

 father to the present monarch, was killed. The sight of these 

 skulls did not impress us with an exalted idea of the inhabitants' 

 humanity, nor were we entirely void of apprehensions that our 

 own might, in a very short time, grace the same spot. We 

 christened this place Golgotha, and as we advanced in it, we 

 were met by crowds of natives of both sexes, eager to get a peep 

 at the white people, whose fame had so long preceded their 

 arrival. 



It was seven o'clock, and consequently dark, before we 

 reached the top of this " valley of the shadow of death," where 

 the springs are which supply Siloqualaly, the present capital of 

 the Bawanketzie kingdom ; which town is situated 1 h mile to 

 the eastward. We were scarcely spanned out here, when two 

 of the king's brothers waited upon us to bid us welcome to 

 their country, and presented us with a large bag of thick milk, 

 which was borne on the shoulders of two men ; a portion of thi 

 they poured out in their hands, and tasted in our presence, 

 (the usual custom in giving strangers food) to shew that it 

 contained no" poison. They placed sentinels round our wagons 

 to prevent the canaille from injuring anything belonging to us, 

 and told us that their brother, the king, would visit us as soon 

 as the moon should rise, which would be about nine o'clock. 



The silver luminary had scarcely peeped over the distant Ba- 

 marootzie mountains, when king Sibigho, true to his appoint- 

 ment, made his appearance, attended by five or six of his staff. 

 He carried in his hand a battle-axe or chacka, without which 

 they seldom go abroad. His appearance was very prepossess- 

 ing, rather above the common size, with a remarkably easy 

 carriage, and his tout ensemble, majestic. His features were 

 decidedly European, color a dark brown, with woolly hair, like 

 the rest of the CafTre tribes. Round his head (as an antidote 

 against the head-ache, with which he was troubled,) he wore a 

 large snake's skin, the bright colors of which formed a pleasing 



