264 ENGAGE SAUL. [chap. ix. 



the usual articles of exchange, whatever was wanted, 

 might he found and bought there with far more 

 facility than elsewhere. The others keep no " stock 

 in hand " of anything, but scramble on from hand to 

 mouth. If you want a pair of leather trousers made, 

 the goat must be killed and the skin dressed, for 

 nobody cares to keep a spare piece of leather. In 

 the same way with carosses, each man has liis own 

 sleeping things, but no overplus by him to sell. 

 Every Hottentot has his ride-ox, which he will not 

 dream of parting mth until he has broken in another 

 one to take its jilace, and there is a want of capital 

 everywhere, so that although a traveller may be 

 abundantly supplied with ai'ticles of exchange, and the 

 natives around him by no means badly off, yet it does 

 not at all follow that he will find anybody to barter 

 with him as he journeys through their country. 



September 24i/t. — We left 'Twas on our shooting 

 excursion. I took no dogs : mine were useless curs 

 for anything else but night-watching ; and under the 

 guidance of Saul we travelled five hours and a half, 

 passing a succession of little springs on our way. 

 Early the next morning we went three hours to the 

 place of rendezvous, and Amiral came shortly after- 

 wards : numbers of other Hottentots soon dropped in, 

 and we had a very merry evening, telling tales, and 

 talking about the habits of animals. Of course we had 

 lion and elephant stories in abundance. I was curious 

 to know what animals here were the most fatal to man, 

 and we counted over all the deaths that we could think 

 of. Buffaloes (though not common here) killed the 



