A VISIT TO SECHELE 53 



must purchase. Our target being set up, we commenced firing ; it was a 

 small piece of wood, six inches long by four in breadth, and was placed on the 

 stump of a tree at the distance of one hundred paces. Sechele fired the first 

 shot, and very naturally missed it, upon which I let fly and split it through 

 the middle. It was then set up again, when Sechele and his brothers 

 continued firing, without once touching it, till night setting in put an end to 

 their proceedings. This, of course, was solely attributed by all present to the 

 power of the medicines I had used." 



When Dr. Livingstone was informed of the circumstance he was very 

 much shocked, declaring that in future the natives would fail to believe him 

 when he denounced supernatural agency, having now seen it practised by his 

 own countrymen. 



Mr. Chapman, who visited Sechele shortly after the attack of the Boers, 

 gives an interesting account of the condition of the chief and his people at 

 that time. He says : — 



"On the 15th of October we were delighted to be under way steering for 

 Sechele's Town, which, after several days' march through heavy sands and 

 dense forests, in parts well stocked with game, we reached on the 28th. 

 Wirsing and I proceeded to Sechele's residence on horseback, riding forward 

 the last stage through rugged glens and among rocky hills, never venturing 

 to move faster than a walk We found the chief at his residence, perched on 

 a hillock composed of blocks of sandstone, loosely piled upon each other, a fit 

 abode for baboons only. 



"Sechele, chief of the Bakwains, a tribe mustering about 500 men, stands 

 about 5 ft. 10 in. high, has a pleasing countenance, and is rather stout. He 

 was dressed in moleskin trousers, a duffel jacket, a wide-awake hat, and 

 military boots. In address and behaviour Sechele is a perfect gentleman. 

 He can read and write, having learnt within the last few years, and is an 

 accepted member of the Kuruman church. He was instructed by Dr. Living- 

 stone, who lived with him for four or five years. Sechele is said to be very 

 quick at learning, and anxious to substitute more civilized customs among his 

 tribe in the place of their own heathenish practices. He is also said to be 

 good-natured and generous. He presented us with a fat ox for slaughter, a 

 custom prevailing among all the tribes that can afford it. 



" Sechele at once pronounced us to be Englishmen; and having corroborated 

 the intelligence we had already heard from Sekomi respecting his disasters 

 (Mr. Chapman's visit to Sekomi will be alluded to further on), he apologised 

 for not being able to receive us as he would like; but he entertained 

 us with roast beef, sweet and sour milk, served in clean dishes, 

 and with silver spoons, also with sweet earth-nuts ; and while we were doing 

 justice to his hospitality, a man stood fanning away the flies with a bunch of 

 white ostrich feathers. His loss, he informed us, was sixty-eight men killed 



