CHAP, v.] RECOGNISING LOST OXEN. ] 45 



been long enough with me to become thoroughly 

 attached to my cause, and he had a very disagreeable 

 time of service, owing to the laziness and jealousies of 

 the waggon men, and would then have been very glad 

 to have discontinued it. I earnestly longed to place a 

 broad tract of country between me and the Mission 

 stations, and then I knew that the waggon-men would 

 hesitate before they ran away and crossed it alone. I 

 persuaded the men, instead of going north through the 

 hostile country, to turn to the left and travel westwards 

 to Kahikene's head-quarters. "We passed by a gTeat 

 many ki-aals, in few of which were there more than ten 

 houses, generally only five or six — probably 100 

 head of cattle and not more, belonged to each kraal. 

 Of these, twenty or thirty were the chief's own property, 

 taken care of by the people who occupied the huts, 

 together with the other oxen which were thek own. 

 The perquisites for taking care of the chief's cattle 

 consisted of the mUk of the cows, and occasionally a 

 calf or lamb. 



The Damaras have a wonderful faculty of recollecting 

 any ox that they have once seen, and whenever I came 

 to a new werft the natives always went up and down 

 among my oxen to see if any that had been stolen 

 from them were among the number. I found a great 

 advantage in having bought tlie majority of mine from 

 Hans, for they had been in his hands for four years, 

 and no Damara could lay a claim to any of them, but in 

 those I bought myself I had to be very careful, as they 

 were pretty sm^e to have been stolen at some time 

 or another, and might, according to the custom of 



