234 A WIFE'S TEUE VALUE. 



for an article/ it is afterwards very difficult to obtain the 

 same sort of thing for a lower, and the market is at once 

 spoiled. A man of mine wounded by accident an old 

 Kaffir woman in the leg ; the headman of the kraal at 

 once demanded from me a cow as compensation, as acci- 

 dents are not recognized by Kaffirs. He brought his 

 dinner and snuff-box to my hut early, and sat talking 

 until late, for three days, gradually lessening his demands, 

 until two sticks of Cavendish tobacco eventually satisfied 

 him. Had I given in to his exorbitant demand, the price 

 would have been an established one, and an old Kaffir 

 woman could not have been wounded under the penalty 

 of a cow. The Kaffir notation is different from ours ; they 

 calculate so many elephants* tusks = so much money ; 

 so much money = one cow ; six cows = one wife ; this 

 being the highest currency amongst them. It may strike 

 many of my readers (in case I have them) as odd, that a 

 wife should be valued at such a price. Their family 

 arrangements, however, are different from ours : whereas 

 our first expense is generally the least, with them it is the 

 greatest, and the only one ; all that takes place afterwards 

 being interest on their original investment. If a Kaffir 

 has a large family, especially of girls, they are soon made 

 useful in the cultivation of his gardens, and, when at a 

 " coming-out" age, are sold at their fair valuation in 

 cattle. The honeymoon over, Mrs. Matuan, or Eondema, 

 is set to work at once at turning over the Indian-corn 

 garden, or making baskets to hold milk, &c. The master 

 of the house, in the mean while, has a look at his cattle 

 while they are feeding, milks the cows on their return at 



