164 THE BATOKA MEN OF PEACE. CHAP. VI. 



chiefs; the men were then left to starve and the women 

 appropriated by the ferryman and his people. Sekomi, 

 the present chief of the Bamangwato, then an infant in 

 his mother's arms, was enabled, through the kindness of a 

 private Batoka, to escape. This act seems to have made 

 an indelible impression on Sekomi's heart, for though 

 otherwise callous, he still never fails to inquire after the 

 welfare of his benefactor. 



Sebetuane, with his wonted ability, outwitted the 

 treacherous Batoka, by insisting in the politest manner on 

 their chief remaining at his own side until the people and 

 cattle were all carried safe across ; the chief was then 

 handsomely rewarded, both with cattle and brass rings off 

 Sebetuane's own wives. No sooner were the Makololo, 

 then called Basuto, safely over, than they were confronted 

 by the whole Batoka nation ; and to this day the Makololo 

 point with pride to the spot on the Lekone, near to which 

 they were encamped, where Sebetuane, with a mere hand- 

 ful of warriors in comparison to the vast horde that sur- 

 rounded him, stood waiting the onslaught, the warriors in 

 one small body, the women and children guarding the 

 cattle behind them. The Batoka, of course, melted away 

 before those who had been made veterans by years of con- 

 tinual fighting, and Sebetuane always justified his subse- 

 quent conquests in that country by alleging that the 

 Batoka had come out to fight with a man fleeing for his 

 life, who had never done them any wrong. They seem 

 never to have been a warlike race ; passing through their 

 country, we once observed a large stone cairn, and our 

 guide favoured us with the following account of it : — 

 " Once upon a time, our forefathers were going to fight 

 another tribe, and here they halted and sat down. After 

 a long consultation, they came to the unanimous conclusion 

 that, instead of proceeding to fight and kill their neigh- 

 bours, and perhaps be killed themselves, it would be more 



