Chap. VI. SECHELE'S INTENDED JOURNEY TO ENGLAND. 81 



country, that I could not pre\ail upon a single servant to 

 accompany me to the north. Loud vows of vengeance were 

 uttered against me by the Boers, and threats of instant pur- 

 suit by a large party on horseback, should I dare to go into or 

 beyond their country. After I had been detained for months 

 at Kuruman from inability to procure waggon-drivers, I at 

 last found three servants who, in spite of imprecations, were 

 willing to risk the journey. A man of colour, named George 

 Fleming., who wished to establish a trade with the Makololo, 

 had managed to get a similar number. To be sure they were 

 all the worst possible specimens of those who imbibe the 

 vices without the virtues of Europeans, but we had no choice, 

 and were glad to get away on any terms. 



We left Kuruman on the 20th of November. When we 

 reached Motito, forty miles off, we met Sechele, on his way, 

 as he said, " to the Queen of England." Two of his children, 

 and their mother, a former wife, were among the captives 

 seized by the Boers ; and as he had a strong belief in English 

 justice, he was convinced that he should obtain redress from 

 our sovereign. He employed all his eloquence to induce me 

 to accompany him, and I in turn endeavoured to dissuade him 

 from his project. " Will the Queen not listen to me," he 

 inquired, "supposing I should reach her?" I replied, "I 

 believe she would listen, but the difficulty is to get to her." 

 " Well," said he, " I shall reach her." When he got to 

 Bloemfontein he found the English army just returning from 

 a battle with the Basutos, in which both parties claimed the 

 victory, and both were glad that a second engagement was 

 not tried. Our officers invited Sechele to dine with them, 

 heard his story, and collected a handsome sum of money to 

 enable him to pursue his journey to England. He proceeded 

 as far as the Cape, when, his resources being expended, he 

 was obliged to go back to his own country, one thousand 

 miles distant, without accomplishing his intention. On his 

 return he adopted the punishment he had witnessed in the 

 colony, of making criminals work on the public roads. He 

 has since, I am informed, become himself the missionary to 

 his own people. He is very dark ; and his subjects swear by 

 " Black Sechele." He has great intelligence, reads well, and 

 ir5 p. fluent speaker. Such is his influence that numbers of the 



