162 EXPEDITION INTO [Chap. XIX. 



halted on an isthmus, formed by a double bend 

 of the river ; a grove of large acacia trees proving 

 an agreeable shelter, and rendering the spot de- 

 lightful. Here we were visited by Moselekatse's 

 son, an aristocratic and intelligent lad, fourteen or 

 fifteen years of age. His dress consisted of the 

 usual girdle with long fur streamers, and a chaplet 

 of white beads bound about his forehead, to which 

 were attached three tufts of clipped quills, resembling 

 in size and shape the flower of the African marigold. 

 A lad of his own age attended him. The blood of 

 the despotic sire flowing in the veins of the heir ap- 

 parent to the throne of the Matabili, his first step 

 was to deprive Mohanycom of a clasp-knife that we 

 had given him, which he immediately hung about 

 his own neck, with a look of absolute superiority 

 hardly to be expected from such a youth. 



