DESERTION OF THE HOTTENTOTS. 43 



jf them could look me in the face ; and in the evening 

 I spoke harshly to them concerning some ground coffee 

 which I had missed from my canteen. 



On the 23d of October I was lying asleep in my 

 wagon, a little before the day dawned,, when Ruyter 

 awoke me to report that my -four Hottentots had de- 

 camped during the night. He said that each of them 

 had taken with him a large bundle of biltongue or sun- 

 'dried meat, and that they had tried hard to prevail on 

 him to accompany them. This was a rather startling 

 announcement, for I had barely enough of hands to 

 perform the work when they were with me, and the 

 four savages from Bamangwato, like myself, were 

 quite unaccustomed to the laborious and intricate art 

 of wagon leading and driving, and the inspanning and 

 outspanning of oxen. Imagining that the Hottentots 

 would not persevere in so rash and unwarranted a meas- 

 ure, and that they would assuredly change their mind^s 

 and retrace their steps to their master when they re- 

 flected on the step they had taken, I did not endeavor 

 to overtake them, but employed the morning in stow- 

 ing the wagons, lashing down pots, spades, axes, &c., 

 in their proper places, and overhauling the gear pre- 

 paratory to marching. 



Having breakfasted, I and the little Bushman, as- 

 sisted by the savages, lassoed, sorted, and yoked twen- 

 ty-four oxen, placing twelve before each wagon,- when 

 we cracked our whips and started from Bootlonamj 

 MoUyee and Mollyeon led the teams, and Kapain and 

 Kuruman followed behind the wagons, driving the 

 horses and loose oxen. In former days I had acquired 

 considerable experience in driving tandem and four-in- 

 hand ; but I had now undertaken a pursuit of a widely 

 different character. I soon, however, became quite 



