MATABELE TRADITIONS. 49 
this came from.' Lee himself was careful. His 
place, he says, is very healthy, and it has got so 
good a name that in unhealthy times people stay 
about here, and it has been like a town, so that he 
opened a store. He is trying peaches, apricots, and 
pomegranates. Potatoes grow well here, and he is 
seldom without vegetables. He Is trying several 
wild fruits. He has always water in the spruit 
close by, and waters by hand. He showed me a 
small wild grape. 
" Lee tells me that a lion may often be stopped 
by throwing your hat at him, when you may have 
time to shoot. He says an elephant gun should 
never be longer than 27 Inches (25 is better), nor 
weigh over 9 lbs. He shoots 8 drams of powder, 
and an 8 to the lb. ball. The recoil is avoided by 
the barrel being strong, and nearly as thick at muzzle 
as at breech. His clothing in hunting is as light as 
possible ; veldt schoen, and he says not even a shirt 
if he could help it. He carries needles and thread in 
his hat. 
" For trading with the Matabele he recommends 
white, blue, and, I think, red beads. Selampore is 
much liked, or strips of coloured calico. Beads, he 
says, seem going out, and printed calico being pre- 
ferred. The Matabele country, he says, was for- 
merly under a queen. There were, I think, other 
queens before. An old man has told him the tra- 
ditions, which he possesses. A famine caused the 
people to break up ; then Kafirs came and con- 
quered the country. Mosilikatze came next, and 
