62 EXPEDITION INTO [Chap. VIII. 



discussion having been suppressed by me, led to a 

 disagreement among themselves ; they fought with 

 inconceivable fury for half an hour, and were with 

 difficulty prevented from murdering each other. 

 With blood streaming from many a ghastly wound, 

 they at length retired to ablute themselves, and 

 returned better friends than ever. The engagement 

 had been witnessed by a party of savages, who car- 

 ried umbrellas of ostrich feathers, twisted round a 

 long stick so as to resemble the nodding plumes of 

 a hearse. In honour of their own courageous bear- 

 ing, the Hottentots purchased a number of these 

 for a small piece of tobacco, and binding them 

 round their hats, strutted forth knights of the sable 

 plume. 



And here, for the reader's especial information, I 

 must be permitted to cast a little light upon the 

 primitive mode in which transactions of a com- 

 mercial nature are conducted by barter amongst 

 these illiterate tribes, who, it may be supposed, 

 are but imperfectly conversant with the rules of 

 arithmetic. Tlie savage, having spread on the 

 ground his caross (which, be it known, is most 

 commonly composed of the skins of the jackal, or 

 wild cat, curiously sewn together with the animal's 

 sinew), a piece of tobacco a span in length, a small 

 string of beads, an ell of brass-wire, a button, or 

 some other commodity equally valuable, is carefully 

 placed upon the head of each skin composing the 

 upper row. Having satisfied his suspicions as to 

 the fairness of the proceeding by the most irksome 



