SLOW PROGRESS. QQ 



nonsense without any one daring to contradict him. They proba- 

 bly have ascertained, from that same interpreter, that this rela- 

 tive of the white chief is very poor, having scarcely any thing in 

 his wagon. 



I sometimes felt annoyed at the low estimation in which some 

 of my hunting friends were held ; for, believing that the chase is 

 eminently conducive to the formation of a brave and noble charac- 

 ter, and that the contest with wild beasts is well adapted for fos- 

 tering that coolness in emergencies, and active presence of mind, 

 which we all admire, I was naturally anxious that a higher esti- 

 mate of my countrymen should be formed in the native mind. 

 "Have these hunters, who come so far and work so hard, no meat 

 at home?" — "Why, these men are rich, and could slaughter oxen 

 every day of their lives." — "And yet they come here, and endure 

 so much thirst for the sake of this dry meat, none of which is 

 equal to beef?" — "Yes, it is for the sake of play besides" (the 

 idea of sport not being in the language). This produces a laugh, 

 as much as to say, "Ah! you know better;" or, "Your friends 

 are fools." When they can get a man to kill large quantities of 

 game for them, whatever he may think of himself or of his achieve- 

 ments, they pride themselves in having adroitly turned to good 

 account the folly of an itinerant butcher. 



The water having at last flowed into the wells we had dug in 

 sufficient quantity to allow a good drink to all our cattle, we de- 

 parted from Serotli in the afternoon ; but as the sun, even in 

 winter, which it now was, is always very powerful by day, the 

 wagons were dragged but slowly through the deep, heavy sand, 

 and we advanced only six miles before sunset. We could only 

 travel in the mornings and evenings, as a single day in the hot 

 sun and heavy sand would have knocked up the oxen. Next 

 day we passed Pepacheu (white tufa), a hollow lined with tufa, in 

 which water sometimes stands, but it was now dry; and at night 

 our trocheamer* showed that we had made but twenty-five miles 

 from Serotli. 



Ramotobi was angry at the slowness of our progress, and told 

 us that, as the next water was three days in front, if we traveled 



* This is an instrument which, when fastened on the wagon-wheel, records the 

 number of revolutions made. By multiplying this number by the circumference of 

 the wheel, the actual distance traveled over is at once ascertained. 



