SOUTHERN AFRICA. o3 



become tlie })roi)rietur of a caro.ss^ "\\liieli in an European 

 market would realize from fifty to a hundred rix-dollars. 

 Traders^ or smouchcSy as they are called by the colonists, con- 

 stantly visit Litakoo and its neig-hbourhood, and often pro- 

 ceed to a considerable distance beyond it into the interior, 

 for the purpose of thus collecting- ivory and peltries for the 

 Cape market ; availing* themselves of the opportunity of sup- 

 plying* the farmers and missionaries lying* in their outward 

 ront(\, with the portable luxuries of life. The profession of a 

 g'entlcman being* quite unknown in the colony, we were our- 

 selves constantl}' taxed with being* itinerant pedlars, the tea 

 and snuft-loving* vrouws never failing* to rush out as we passed 

 their houses to inquire what we had in the Mag'g'on. It must, 

 ho^\ ever, be obser\ ed, that the field for traffic is extremely 

 limited, and that fortunes are rarely made, unless by those, 

 who, baffling* the vigilance of the frontier field cornets, con- 

 trive to snnig*g*le g-unpo\\der across the boundary ; or b}' the 

 adventurous man who is the first to visit the chief of some 

 new tribe among* the northern nations, and can thus make 

 his 0A\ n nuu'ket, and establish his own price-current. 



The scattered inhabitants of this part of the country 

 are the renmants of various Bechuana tribes, which have 

 been conquered by Moselekatse— and consist principally of 

 the liarolong*, Wang-kets, Batlapi, and Baharootzi. These 

 poor wretches live in small comnninities, and, being* desti- 

 tute of cattle, depend entirel}' for subsistence on locusts, 

 or such g*ame as chance may direct to their ])itfnlls. Crowds 

 of them, attracted by prey, now hovered around me in my 

 Inniting* expeditions, ■\^hicll were here particularl}' success- 

 ful ; and liaAing- obtained a supply- of meat, with the luxuries 

 of snufi^' and tobacco, for which they were constantlv bes*- 

 g-ing*, under the denominations of //\n7/ //<■// r/ and muchulw,i\\ey 

 composed themselves to sleep, appearing* to be in the enjoy- 

 ment of as much happiness as man in a state of mere animal 



