334 A MAIDEN'S CHOICE. Chap. XXV. 



the rains were expected daily ; the clouds were collecting, and 

 the wind blew strongly from the east, but it was excessively 

 hot. The Makololo urged me strongly to remain till the 

 ground should be cooled by the rains ; and as it was probable 

 that I should be laid up with fever if I commenced my jour- 

 ney now, I resolved to wait. The district between the 17th 

 and 18th parallels is a kind of debateable border-land between 

 the dry and the humid regions, and partakes occasionally of 

 the characteristics of each. Some idea may be formed of the 

 heat in October by the fact that the thermometer in the shade 

 of my waggon, and protected from the wind, stood at 100° 

 through the day. It rose to 110° when exposed to the wind; 

 after sunset it showed 89°, at 10 o'clock p.m. 80°, and then 

 gradually sank to 70° at sunrise, which is usually the period 

 of greatest cold in the twenty-four hours in this region. 

 During the period of greatest heat the natives keep in their 

 huts, which are always pleasantly cool by day, but close and 

 suffocating by night. Those who are able to afford it sit 

 guzzling beer or boyaloa, and keep up a continuous fire of 

 bantering, raillery, laughing, and swearing. In the evenings 

 they set to work dancing, and keep it up in the moonlight till 

 past midnight, the women clapping their hands continuously, 

 and the old men applauding and pronouncing it to be " really 

 very fine !" Crowds came to see me, and I employed much of 

 my time in conversation, which is a good mode of conveying 

 instruction. In the public meetings for worship the people 

 listened very attentively, and behaved with more decorum 

 than formerly. They really form a very inviting field for a 

 missionary. Surely the oft-told tale of the goodness and love 

 of our Heavenly Father, in giving His own Son to die for us 

 sinners, will, by the power of His Holy Spirit, beget love in 

 some of these heathen hearts. 



I had an opportunity of witnessing a summary mode of 

 deciding between the claims of rival suitors. A maidservant 

 of Sekeletu, pronounced by the Makololo to be goodlooking, 

 was sought in marriage by no less than five young men. 

 Sekeletu, happening to be at my waggon when one of these 

 preferred his suit, very coolly ordered all five to stand in a row 

 before the young woman, that she might make her choice. 

 This was an unusual proceeding, as the consent of the young 



