93 ARTICLES OF COMMERCE. 



old system may pass away ; and the rest — a pretty large 

 number — profess, because they are really true believers." 

 This testimony may be considered as very nearly correct. 

 There is not much prospect of this country ever 

 producing much of the materials of commerce except wool. 

 At present the chief articles of trade are karosses or 

 mantles — the skins of which they are composed come 

 from the Desert ; next to them ivory, the quantity of 

 which cannot now be great, inasmuch as the means of 

 shooting elephants is sedulously debarred entrance into 

 the country. A few skins and horns, and some cattle, 

 make up the remainder of the exports. English goods, 

 sugar, tea, and coffee are the articles received in exchange. 

 All the natives of these parts soon become remarkably 

 fond of coffee. The acme of respectability among the 

 Bechuanas is the possession of cattle and a waggon. It is 

 remarkable that, though these latter require frequent 

 repairs, none of the Bechuanas have ever learned to mend 

 them. Forges and tools have been at their service, and 

 teachers willing to aid them, but, beyond putting together 

 a camp-stool, no effort has ever been made to acquire the 

 knowledge of the trades. They observe most carefully a 

 missionary at work, until they understand whether a tire 

 is well welded or not, and then pronounce upon its merits 

 with great emphasis, but there their ambition rests satisfied. 

 It is the same peculiarity among ourselves which leads us 

 in other matters, such as bookmaking, to attain the excel- 

 ence of fault-finding without the wit to indite a page. 

 It was in vain I tried to indoctrinate the Bechuanas with 

 the idea that criticism did not imply any superiority over 

 the workman, or even equality with him. 



CHAPTER VI. 



The permanence of the station called Kuruman depends 

 entirely on the fine ever-flowing fountain of that name. 

 It comes from beneath the trap-rock, of which I shall have 

 to speak when describing the geology of the entire country^ ; 

 and as it usually issues at a temperature of 72° Fahr., it 

 probably comes from the old Silurian schists, which 



