BANKS OF THE ZOUGA.— PITFALLS. gj 



accompanied us, was then purchasing ivory at the rate of ten good 

 large tusks for a musket worth thirteen shillings. They were 

 called " bones ;" and I myself saw eight instances in which the 

 tusks had been left to rot with the other bones where the ele- 

 phant fell. The Batauana never had a chance of a market before ; 

 but, in less than two years after our discovery, not a man of them 

 could be found who was not keenly alive to the great value of 

 the article. 



On the day after our arrival at the lake, I applied to Lechu- 

 latebe for guides to Sebituane. As he was much afraid of that 

 chief, he objected, fearing lest other white men should go thither 

 also, and give Sebituane guns ; whereas, if the traders came to 

 him alone, the possession of fire-arms would give him such a su- 

 periority that Sebituane would be afraid of him. It was in vain 

 to explain that I would inculcate peace between them — that Sebi- 

 tuane had been a father to him and Sechele, and was as anxious 

 to see me as he, Lechulatebe, had been. He offered to give me 

 as much ivory as I needed without going to that chief; but when 

 I refused to take any, he unwillingly consented to give me guides. 

 Next day, however, when Oswell and I were prepared to start, 

 with the horses only, we received a senseless refusal ; and like Se- 

 komi, who had thrown obstacles in our way, he sent men to the 

 Bayeiye with orders to refuse us a passage across the river. Try- 

 ing hard to form a raft at a narrow part, I worked many hours 

 in the water ; but the dry wood was so worm-eaten it would not 

 bear the weight of a single person. I was not then aware of the 

 number of alligators which exist in the Zouga, and never think 

 of my labor in the water without feeling thankful that I escaped 

 their jaws. The season was now far advanced ; and as Mr. Os- 

 well, with his wonted generous feelings, volunteered, on the spot, 

 to go down to the Cape and bring up a boat, we resolved to make 

 our way south again. 



Coming down the Zouga, we had now time to look at its banks. 

 These are very beautiful, resembling closely many parts of the 

 River Clyde above Glasgow. The formation is soft calcareous 

 tufa, such as forms the bottom of all this basin. The banks are 

 perpendicular on the side to which the water swings, and sloping 

 and grassy on the other. The slopes are selected for the pitfalls 

 designed by the Bayeiye to entrap the animals as they come to 



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