PRESENTS TO SEKELETU. 103 



except by exchanging one bull and one cow elephant's 

 tusk for each gun. This would average 70 lbs. of ivory, 

 which sells at the Cape for 5s. per pound, for a second- 

 hand musket worth 10s. I, being sixty miles distant, did 

 not witness this attempt at barter, but, anxious to enable 

 my countrymen to drive a brisk trade, told the Makololo 

 to sell my ten tusks on their own account for whatever 

 they would bring. Seventy tusks were for sale, but, the 

 parties not understanding each other's talk, no trade was 

 established; and when I passed the spot some time after- 

 ward I found that the whole of that ivory had been de- 

 stroyed by an accidental fire, which broke out in the village 

 when all the people were absent. Success in trade is as 

 much dependent on knowledge of the language as success 

 in travelling. 



I had brought with me as presents an improved breed 

 of goats, fowls, and a pair of cats. A superior bull was 

 bought, also as a gift to Sekeletu; but I was compelled to 

 leave it on account of its having become foot-sore. As the 

 Makololo are very fond of improving the breed of their 

 domestic animals, they were much pleased with my selec- 

 tion. I endeavored to bring the bull, in performance of a 

 promise made to Sebituane before he died. Admiring a 

 calf which we had with us, he proposed to give me a cow for 

 it, which in the native estimation was offering three times 

 its value. I presented it to him at once, and promised to 

 bring him another and a better one. Sekeletu was mur.h 

 gratified by my attempt to keep my word given to !■« 

 father 



