A "lUCBO:" ITS RESULTS. 129 



A "pieho" was called to deliberate on the steps proposed. 

 In these assemblies great freedom of speech is allowed; 

 and on this occasion one of the old diviners said, "Where 

 is he taking you to ? This white man is throwing you 

 away. Your garments already smell of blood." It is 

 curious to observe how much identity of character appears 

 all over the world. This man was a noted croaker. He 

 always dreamed something dreadful in every expedition, 

 and was certain that an eclipse or comet betokened the 

 pi'opriety of flight. But Sebituane formerly set his visions 

 down to cowardice, and Sekeletu only laughed at him now. 

 The general voice was in my favor; so a band of twenty- 

 seven were appointed to accompany me to the west. 

 These men were not hired, but sent to enable me to 

 accomplish an object as much desired by the chief and 

 most of his people as by me. They were eager to obtain 

 free and profitable trade with white men. The prices 

 which the Cape merchants could give, after defraying the 

 great expenses of a long journey hither, being very small, 

 made it scarce worth while for the natives to collect pro- 

 duce for that market; and the Mambari, giving only a few 

 bits of print and baize for elephants' tusks worth more 

 pounds than they gave yards of cloth, had produced the 

 belief that trade with them was throwing ivory away. 

 The desire of the Makololo for direct trade with the sea- 

 coast coincided exactly with my own conviction that no 

 permanent elevation of a people can be effected without 

 commerce. Neither could there be a permanent mission 

 here, unless the missionaries should descend to the level of 

 the Makololo, for even at Kolobeng we found that traders 

 demanded three or four times the price of the articles we 

 needed, and expected us to be grateful to them besides for 

 letting us have them at all. 



The three men whom I had brought from Kuruman had 



frequent relapses of the fever; so, finding that instead of 



serving me I had to wait on them, I decided that they 



bhould return to the south with Fleming as soon as he had 



I 



