DESPISED HUNTERS. 49 



What can this fellow mean by his thanks and talk about 

 water ? O, you born fool ! take us to the waggons, and 

 ;'ou will get both meat and water. Wouldn't a thrashing 

 oring him to his senses again ? " " No, no, for then he 

 will run away, and we shall be worse off than we are now." 



The hunters regained the waggons next day by their own 

 sagacity, which becomes wonderfully quickened by a 

 sojourn in the Desert ; and we enjoyed a hearty laugh on 

 the explanation of their midnight colloquies. Frequent 

 mistakes of this kind occur. A man may tell his inter- 

 preter to say that he is a member of the family of the 

 chief of the white men ; " Yes, you speak like a chief," is 

 the reply ; meaning, as they explain it, that a chief may 

 talk nonsense without any one daring to contradict him. 

 They probably have ascertained, from that same inter- 

 preter, that this relative of the white chief is very poor, 

 having scarcely anything in his waggon. 



I sometimes felt annoyed at the low estimation in which 

 some of my hunting friends were held ; for, believing that 

 the chace is eminently conducive to the formation of a 

 brave and noble character, and that the contest with 

 wild beasts is well adapted for fostering that coolness in 

 emergencies, and active presence of mind, which we all 

 admire, I was naturally anxious that a higher estimate 

 of my countrymen should be formed in the native mind. 

 " Have these hunters, who come so far and work so hard, 

 no meat at home ? " — " Why, these men are rich, and 

 could slaughter oxen every day of their lives." — " And 

 yet they come here, and endure so much thirst for the 

 sake of this dry meat, none of which is equal to beef ? " 

 — " Yes, it is for the sake of play besides " (the idea of 

 sport not being in the language). — This produces a laugh, 

 as much as to say, " Ah, you know better ; " or, " Your 

 friends are fools." When they can get a man to kill large 

 quantities of game for them, whatever he may think of 

 himself or of his achievements, they pride themselves in 

 having adroitly turned to good account the folly of an 

 itinerant butcher. 



The water having at last flowed into the wells we had 

 dug, in sufficient quantity to allow a good drink to all 

 our cattle, we departed from Serotli in the afternoon ; 

 but as the sun even in winter, which it now was, is always 

 very powerful by day, the waggons were dragged but 

 slowly through the deep heavy sand, and we advanced 



E 



