30 CHIEF PATO. 



afternoon we reached " Wesley ville," and met with 

 a kind reception from Mr. Shaw, who, shortly after 

 our arrival, proposed a visit to the kraal of " Pato," 

 at a short distance from the Station. 



In this Chief, I recognised an acquaintance, hav- 

 ing seen him in Graham's Town not long before, 

 where I presented him with a quantity of beads, in 

 return for which he had promised me the tusk of an 

 elephant, if I should pay him a visit. He was seated 

 outside his hut, surrounded by his Amapakati, or 

 great men ; but on being reminded of his engage- 

 ment, he declared that he had forgotten both myself 

 and the promise ; nor was the fact at all improbable, 

 so numerous must have been the persons from whom 

 he had received similar gifts at Graham's Town. 

 Mr. Shaw, however, desiring to impress on his mind 

 the importance of adhering strictly to a pledge of 

 this description, and telling him that the word of a 

 Chief should always be kept inviolable, he shrugged 

 up his shoulders, and assured us that he had no ele- 

 phants' tusks in his possession. At this moment a 

 party of CafFers was observed at a short distance, 

 returning from an elephant hunt, one of whom car- 

 ried a tusk on his shoulder, as a customary tribute to 

 the Chief. Pato now found himself in a dilemma, 

 and requesting me to go down to the Station, whilst 

 he consulted with his people, we left the kraal, but 

 had not reached Mr. Shaw's house before he over- 

 took us bearing under his royal kaross of leopard skin 



