B USHMAN ENCAMPMENT. 2 2 3 
driven from the Shashe, and is now encamped close 
to the settlement here. I rode through their camp 
the other day, and felt that I was amongst the true 
children of the forest, resembling more the North 
American Indians than the usual Kafir races of this 
country. Their huts are made of poles, converging 
together at the top, these laid over with branches, 
and finally rudely thatched with long grass. I 
should say there were between fifty and a hundred 
of them in the camp." 
To this letter, here cut short, he adds the follow- 
ing, four days later : — 
'■'■ October 20th. 
" Last night my two Kafirs, whom I had sent to 
the king, to ask leave for me to hunt a little on the 
Shashani, returned with a favourable answer. I gave 
the king a shot gun on first entering his country, 
much to his satisfaction, and I believe it is now his 
favourite gun out of the armoury he possesses. I 
had two cases of 200 cartridges each, and gave him 
one with the gun, and shall now leave the other, 
together with the rest of his present, with Brown, 
to be forwarded to him when a waggon goes up. 
It is everything here to have the king on one's side, 
as without it one would have a miserable chance of 
getting on. Even the king does not care to have 
too many white men in his country, but likes a few, 
to enable him to trade. He has a great objection 
to the Boers, who come only to hunt for skins, 
thus wasting all the meat, but he knows with me 
it is a different case, and he does not care where 
