LECHULATEBE'S PKO VOCATIONS. 217 



arms, even the old, must turn out at the call. In the time of 

 Sebituane, any one remaining in his house was searched for and 

 killed without mercy. 



This offense of Lechulatebe was aggravated by repetition, and 

 by a song sung in his town accompanying the dances, which 

 manifested joy at the death of Sebituane. He had enjoined his 

 people to live in peace with those at the lake, and Sekeletu 

 felt disposed to follow his advice ; but Lechulatebe had now got 

 possession of fire-arms, and considered himself more than a match 

 for the Makololo. His father had been dispossessed of many 

 cattle by Sebituane, and, as forgiveness is not considered among 

 the virtues by the heathen, Lechulatebe thought he had a right 

 to recover what he could. As I had a good deal of influence 

 with the Makololo, I persuaded them that, before they could 

 have peace, they must resolve to give the same blessing to oth- 

 ers, and they never could do that without forgiving and forgetting 

 ancient feuds. It is hard to make them feel that shedding of 

 human blood is a great crime ; they must be conscious that it is 

 wrong, but, having been accustomed to bloodshed from infancy, 

 they are remarkably callous to the enormity of the crime of de- 

 stroying human life. 



I sent a message at the same time to Lechulatebe advising him 

 to give up the course he had adopted, and especially the song ; be- 

 cause, though Sebituane was dead, the arms with which he had 

 fought were still alive and strong. 



Sekeletu, in order to follow up his father's instructions and 

 promote peace, sent ten cows to Lechulatebe to be exchanged 

 for sheep ; these animals thrive well in a bushy country like 

 that around the lake, but will scarcely live in the flat prairies 

 between the net-work, of waters north of the Chobe. The men 

 who took the cows carried a number of hoes to purchase goats 

 besides. Lechulatebe took the cows and sent back an equal 

 number of sheep. Now, according to the relative value of sheep 

 and cows in these parts, he ought to have sent sixty or seventy. 



One of the men who had hoes was trying to purchase in a 

 village without formal leave from Lechulatebe ; this chief pun- 

 ished him by making him sit some hours on the broiling hot 

 sand (at least 130°). This farther offense put a stop to amicable 

 relations between the two tribes altogether. It was a case in 



