CHAP. VI.] HEAR OF KAHIKENE'S DEATH. 187 



soppy and extensible ; drought makes tanned leather 

 rotten, but not if a very little fat be rubbed in occa- 

 sionally. All my tanned leather things lasted admirably, 

 and far outwore the rest. 



I had, whilst waiting for the Ovampo, some fresh 

 oxen broken in, and among them Kahikene's fine 

 black ox. I did so because news arrived one evening 

 that Kahikene was killed, and I wished to keep a 

 memento of him, and not to eat his present. It 

 appeared that he went to Omagunde's son's werft 

 immediately after we had parted, and made a bold 

 charge. When the fighting was at its thickest, all 

 Kahikene's men dropped off, and ran away, leaving 

 him and his son alone. My old servant, Piet, from 

 Mozambique, remained a little time with him, and shot 

 two men with his gun, but then became frightened, 

 and made his escape. An arrow struck Kaliikene; 

 and as he fell to the gTound, Omagunde's men speared 

 him through and through with their assegais. His 

 son, a fine intelligent lad, rushed up to him in despair, 

 and was murdered by Ms side. 



As I have brought my narrative to the time when we 

 w^ere about to leave Damara-land behind us ; and as 

 we had already lived five months in it, and of course 

 had seen much of the manners and habits of the 

 people, it will be a good opportunity for me to 

 mention them in order, and more fully than I could 

 have done before, without anticipating or breaking the 

 thread of my story. 



To commence with their name. It is in their own 

 language " Ovaherero," or the " Merry People ; " but 



