CHAP. III.] BUY OXEN FROM HANS. 75 



that therefore he would probably be regarded with the 

 same displeasure as they, if he persisted in attacking 

 the Damaras now that he had been warned. I ended 

 with an assurance that I should call the Damara chiefs 

 together, and express to them what I had been requested 

 to do ia the case of the nations threatened by the 

 emigrant Boers. 



After I had written my letter in English, I had it 

 translated into simple Dutch, and written on a mag- 

 nificent sheet of paper, and, finding a messenger, sent it 

 by liim to Jonker, who lived fifty miles off, under a high 

 range of hills which was distinctly visible from Barmen. 



Mr. Hahn spoke highly of Hans, and strongly 

 advised me not only to take him into my service, but 

 also to buy up his stock of oxen and sheep, as it would 

 save me infinite trouble ; and this I did. I paid him, 

 by cheque on Cape Town, 111. for fifty oxen and a 

 hundred sheep and goats. Of these about fifteen were 

 more or less trained, and two or three were ride-oxen. 

 It was the best bargain I could possibly have made, 

 for a month's barter among the Damaras would never 

 have bought so many. The poverty of the land began 

 to strike me, and the extreme inconvenience of having 

 no currency, which makes bartering a very different 

 matter from buying at a shop. I was grieved, too, to 

 find that very many of my articles of exchange were ill- 

 chosen and worthless, and also that I should require a 

 very large troop of slaughter oxen, as hardly any game 

 seemed to exist in this part of the country. 



I only staid one whole day at Barmen, and then 

 returned to my cart at Otjimbiugue, riding the sixty 



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