202 THE HUNTER'S ARCADIA. 



The men previously alluded to who had the young- 

 caracals to dispose of, seemed anxious to come to 

 terms with me for their sale. This no doubt arose from 

 the fact that I treated their presence with perfect in- 

 difference, and without expressing a desire to become 

 possessed of their treasures. So on the following 

 afternoon, while I was busily employed washing out 

 the dirty clothes, they seated themselves beside the 

 tub. After turning my back upon them about a dozen 

 times, and their changing their position as frequently 

 to avoid being offered this indignity, they broached 

 to me the subject of their visit. After considerable 

 haggling, I agreed to pay them an old jersey, a pound 

 of tobacco, and a cup of gunpowder on delivery of 

 the young beasts in camp. The remuneration was 

 evidently satisfactory ; but still there was a hitch, 

 which ultimately, I was informed, resolved itself into 

 the fact that the cubs had not yet been caught. The 

 Bushmen, however, knew where they were, and had a 

 firm belief that they could capture them, and that 

 there would be little risk in doing so, as the caracal 

 which had been shot the previous morning they 

 thought was the sire of the proposed objects of 

 barter. But, for all this explanation, I preferred 



