I,ECHUI,ATEBE'S PROVOCATIONS. 185 



before they could have peace, they must resolve to give 

 the same blessing to others, and they never could do that 

 without forgiving and forgetting ancient feuds. It is 

 hard to make them feel that shedding of human blood is a 

 great crime ; they must be conscious that it is wrong, 

 but, having been accustomed to bloodshed from infancy, 

 they are remarkably callous to the enormity of the crime 

 of destroying human life. 



I sent a message at the same time to Lechulatebe 

 advising him to give up the course he had adopted, and 

 especially the song ; because, though Sebituane was dead, 

 the arms with which he had fought were still alive and 

 strong. 



Sekeletu, in order to follow up his father's instructions 

 and promote peace, sent ten cows to Lechulatebe to be 

 exchanged for sheep ; these animals thrive well in a bushy 

 country like that around the lake, but will scarcely live in 

 the flat prairies between the net-work of waters north of 

 the Chobe. The men who took the cows carried a number 

 of hoes to purchase goats besides. Lechulatebe took the 

 cows and sent back an equal number of sheep. Now, 

 according to the relative value of sheep and cows in these 

 parts, he ought to have sent sixty or seventy. 



One of the men who had hoes was trying to purchase in 

 a village without formal leave from Lechulatebe ; this 

 chief punished him by making him sit some hours on the 

 broiling hot sand (at least 130 ). This farther offence put 

 a stop to amicable relations between the two tribes 

 altogether. It was a case in which a very small tribe, 

 commanded by a weak and foolish chief, had got possession 

 of fire-arms, and felt conscious of ability to cope with a 

 numerous and warlike race. Such cases are the only 

 ones in which the possession of fire-arms does evil. The 

 universal effect of the diffusion of the more potent instru- 

 ments of warfare in Africa is the same as among ourselves. 

 Fire-arms render wars less frequent and less bloody. It 

 is indeed exceedingly rare to hear of two tribes having 

 guns, going to war with each other ; and, as nearly all the 

 feuds, in the south at least, have been about cattle, the 

 risk which must be incurred from long shots, generally 

 proves a preventive to the foray. 



The Makololo were prevailed upon to keep the peace 

 during my residence with them, but it was easy to perceive 

 that public opinion was against sparing a tribe of Bechii- 



