43 THE BAMANGWATO AND THEIR CHIEF. Chap. III. 



(8) Near the lake was a lialf-tribe of the Bamangwato, called 

 Batauana. Their chief was a young man named Lechulatebe. 

 His uncle had ransomed him after Sebituane had conquered 

 his father. He had just come into power, and, to show his 

 independence, acted directly contrary to everything his uncle 

 advised. The latter recommended him to treat us handsomely, 

 and therefore, when we wished to purchase some goats or oxen, 

 Lechulatebe, in a spirit of opposition, oifered us elephants' 

 tusks. " No, we cannot eat these ; we want something to fill 

 our stomachs." " Neither can I ; but I hear you white men 

 are all very fond of these bones, so I offer them ; I want to 

 put the goats into my own stomach." A trader, who accom- 

 panied us, purchased ivory at the rate of ten large tusks for a 

 musket worth thirteen shillings. I myself saw eight instances 

 in which the tusks had been left to rot with the bones where 

 the elephant fell. In less than two years not a man of the 

 Batauana could be found who was not keenly alive to their 

 value. 



My principal object was to visit Sebituane, the great chief 

 of the Makololo, who was reported to live some two hundred 

 miles beyond Lake Ngami. The day after our arrival 1 

 applied to Lechulatebe for guides. He objected, fearing lest 

 other whi^e men should go thither also and give Sebituane 

 guns ; whereas he hoped by obtaining a monopoly of firearms 

 to get the ascendency. He at last unwillingly promised to 

 give us guides, then again declined, and sent men to the 

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

 I tried hard to form a raft, but the dry wood was so wormeaten 

 that it would not bear the weight of a single person. I worked 

 many hours in the water, for I was not then aware of the 

 number of alligators in the Zouga, and never think of my 

 labours without feeling thankful that I escaped their jaws. 

 The season was now far advanced ; and as Mr. Oswell volun- 

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

 make our way south again. 



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

 They are very beautiful, and resemble in many parts the 

 river Clyde above Glasgow. The side to which the water 

 swings is perpendicular, the other is sloping and grassy. 

 The Bayeiye dig pitfalls on these declivities to entrap the 



