EMBARRASSING POPULARITY 205 



that when my supply of tobacco and dates ran 

 out, my popularity might not wane? 



The immediate question as to who was to 

 accompany me was a delicate one. Hendrick, 

 of course, was chief of my staff. I only re- 

 quired two others, but ten — of whom four 

 were women — clamoured insistently for enlist- 

 ment, declaring that Hendrick had, the previ- 

 ous night, contracted with them individually 

 and collectively for the intended trip. I ex- 

 plained the inadequacy of my reserve of food; 

 I laid stress on the local scarcity of game. I 

 was informed that at that time of year " veld- 

 kost," the uncultivated produce of Nature's 

 vegetable garden, was plentiful, and that 

 monkeys abounded in the river forest. In 

 despair I called up the two members of the 

 Raad and begged of them to arbitrate. These 

 men were diplomatists; they were accustomed 

 to dealing with important questions. 



A violent disputation followed; in the 

 course of it the clicks of the Hottentot tongue 

 flew about like fire-crackers. Eventually a 

 most preposterous award was given. Five 

 Richtersvelders — three men and two women — 

 were to be enrolled as my corps of guides. 

 One of the women was old; she might have 

 passed for a revised edition of the Witch of 



