353 KLOOF AND KARROO. 



unfortunate Jordaan was buried in a hole scratched 

 a foot deep in the earth. Afterwards the resident 

 missionary erected a wall round the spot, and 

 re-interred the remains. Two Boers and a trader in 

 the neighbourhood, whose deaths had been also 

 planned, had warning in time, and escaped with their 

 lives. After this event, all was confusion in the 

 settlement. 



Some of the colonists at once trekked out, fearing 

 greater disasters. The Boers first sent in hot haste 

 to Damaraland to ask for German protection, but 

 chiefly owing to difficulties of their own raising, after 

 some negotiations, the German Acting Commissioner 

 threw up the affair in disgust and left them to their 

 own devices. But to add to their troubles, already 

 sufficiently heavy, other entanglements ensued. A 

 dispute had occurred between the Bushmen of the 

 district and a wandering trader ; the latter had taken 

 the law into his own hands and shot one of the 

 Bushmen, who in turn had retaliated by plundering 

 the white man of his stores and looting his waggon. 

 Both parties came before the bestuur of the 

 settlement for justice, and as the Boers unduly 

 favoured the trader, the Bushmen, who, to speak 

 truth, had thus far behaved fairly well, after their 

 imperfect lights, towards the settlers, took high 

 oifence, and departed, vowing that for the future they 

 would follow their own laws and would make the 

 Upingtoniijns smart for their shuffling. Meanwhile 

 the settlers entered into fresh negotiations with the 

 Damaras, and for a time it seemed that peace 

 would yet prevail, and that by timely concessions to 

 Kamahero, the Damara chief, they might even yet 

 remain in possession of their new lands. A punitory 



