BOSH! 193 



belabouring his neighbour or, possibly, giving him 

 a taste of cold steel, for an Anglo-Saxon cannot 

 imagine such an amount of energy got up for any 

 purpose in which life and limb are not concerned. 

 But the most remarkable thing of all is, as soon 

 as their differences are settled, each and every one 

 appears disposed to - caress, even kiss, his former 

 enemy. So it was with these people around me ; 

 and what would you suppose the dispute was about ? 

 The new arrivals had got two young caracals for sale, 

 and were disposed to take a price for them which 

 my friends deemed quite inadequate in payment for 

 such treasures, and on that account were browbeating 

 the new-comers so as to force them to squeeze the 

 white man. Uneducated and unsophisticated as these 

 people are, still they are wonderfully sharp in making 

 bargains themselves, or in assisting others to do 

 so ; when the latter is the case they take precious 

 good care to see that the vendor pays a heavy 

 commission for the service rendered. 



" These people require a deal of protection from 

 the dishonest white man," so said a missionary once 

 to me. Indeed ! Bosh ! Such is a good song for 

 some of our philanthropists to sing, but the boot 



