CHAP. lY.] MURDER A DOG AND PAY FOR IT. 121 



joiirney ; and, as our stomachs had been thrown out of 

 order, I hardly liked to go so far without taking some : 

 I could not think what to use as a water vessel, when 

 my eye fell upon a useless cur of ours, that never 

 watched, and only frightened game by running after 

 them, and whose death I had long had in view. Dog- 

 skin is the most waterproof of hides, so I despatched 

 the cur and skinned him. His death was avenged 

 upon me in a striking manner, for during the night a 

 pack of wild dogs came upon us, scattered our sheep 

 who were not well kraaled in, and killed them all. We 

 traced the carcasses of some in the morning by the 

 vultm-es that settled upon them. Two goats alone 

 remained, wliich I had bought at Eikhams. Oddly 

 enough, just as we were starting, the goats dis- 

 appeared : we beat every bush for half an hour, but 

 could not find them. At last we became tired of the 

 search, and continued our journey, reaching Eikhams 

 at night. To our wonder and amazement, as soon as 

 we arrived, we met the faithful lost Ghou Damup, not 

 only with the iron pot on his head, like a helmet, as he 

 usually wore it, and red coat on his back, but also 

 driving the identical goats we had lost, and which 

 were under his peculiar charge. He had found them 

 walking along the waggon spoor ; they must have 

 run on a-head before we first lost them, and then 

 fallen into the hands of the Ghou Damup, who had 

 himself passed us without knowing it. He felt he had 

 done wrong in staying behind, but he said he was 

 very tired. He had found some roots on the way, and 

 lived on them. After his story, he brought me a 



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