36 MESSAGE FROM SEKOMI 



of the desiccation of the country. The first time I passed 

 it, Lopepe was a large pool with a stream flowing out of it 

 to the south; now it was with difficulty we could get our 

 cattle watered by digging down in the bottom of a well. 



At Mashiie — where we found a never-failing supply of 

 pure water in a sandstone rocky hollow — we left the road 

 to the Bamangwato Hills, and struck away to the north 

 into the Desert. Having watered the cattle at a well called 

 Lobotani, about N. W. of Bamangwato, we next proceeded 

 to a real Kalahari fountain, called Serotli. 



In the evening of our second day at Serotli, a hyena, 

 appearing suddenly among the grass, succeeded in raising 

 a panic among our cattle. This false mode of attack is 

 the plan which this cowardly animal always adopts. His 

 courage resembles closely that of a turkey-cock. He will 

 bite if an animal is running away; but if the animal stand 

 still, so does he. Seventeen of our draught-oxen ran away, 

 and in their flight went right into the hands of Sekomi, 

 whom, from his being unfriendly to our success, we had no 

 particular wish to see. Cattle-stealing, such as in the cir- 

 cumstances might have occurred in Caffraria, is here un- 

 known; so Sekomi sent back our oxen, and a message 

 strongly dissuading us against attempting the Desert. 

 " Where are you going? You will be killed by the sun 

 and thirst, and then all the white men will blame me for 

 not saving you." This was backed by a private message 

 from his mother. " Why do you pass me ? I always made 

 the people collect to hear the word that you have got. 

 What guilt have I, that you pass without looking at me V 

 We replied by assuring the messengers that the white men 

 would attribute our deaths to our own stupidity and "hard- 

 headedness," (tlogo, e thata,") "as we did not intend to 

 allow our companions and guides to return till they had 

 put us into our graves." We sent a handsome present to 

 Sekomi, and a promise that, if he allowed the Bakalahari 

 to keep the wells open for us, we would repeat the gift on 

 our return. 



