140 MEMORIES OF MY LIFE 



space above the deck of the wagon was too low to 

 read or write in with comfort. The small wagon 



o 



held the clothes of the men in addition to its regular 

 freight, and nobody slept in it except during the 

 heavy rains. At first the natives of my party were 

 constantly changing, and in addition to my own 

 party there were occasional hangers-on. 



As regards commissariat, my biscuit and every 

 kind of vegetable food had been eaten up. I had 

 plenty of tea, coffee, and some sugar, and a few trifles 

 besides, but no wine or spirits except for medicine. 

 Our sustenance was henceforth to be the flesh of the 

 oxen and sheep driven with us, eked out by occasional 

 game. The charge of the cattle was our constant 

 anxiety and care ; if lost or stolen, we should be 

 starved. The estimate was that one sheep they were 

 very lean afforded twenty meals, and I found that 

 men on full work required tw r o meals daily. An ox 

 was reckoned equal to seven sheep, and would there- 

 fore feed twenty-four people for three days. The gross 

 total of oxen, cows, and calves in the caravan was 

 ninety-four ; that of sheep was twenty-four. Seventy- 

 five of the oxen were broken in ; nine of these as ride- 

 oxen and a few others as pack-oxen, the remainder 

 only for draught. I considered myself to be provided 

 for ten weeks, exclusive of game, while still preserving 

 a sufficiency of trained oxen. 



I had many things for barter, but could not fore- 

 see whether, or how far, they would be accepted in 

 exchange for cattle. It afterwards appeared that two 

 sticks of cavendish tobacco was a usual equivalent for 

 one sheep, and a rod of iron or a gun for perhaps 

 eight oxen. 



