CAFFER CHIEF MACOMA. 245 



veiling, was then at the Fort, it being the day of the 

 weekly fair held at this place. We were informed 

 that he might be met with at the Canteen, his fa- 

 vourite rendezvous, where we accordingly found him 

 surrounded by a large party of his tribe. 



He was a man of small stature, handsomely 

 formed, having quick, piercing eyes, and possessing 

 a pleasing and rather intelligent countenance. He 

 wore over his shoulders a leopard' s-skin kaross, and 

 a band of different-coloured beads encircled his brow. 

 Five or six of his wives, richly decorated with 

 beads and buttons, had accompanied him to the fair, 

 and were seated in a room appropriated exclusively 

 for their use within the Fort. On making known 

 to him the circumstances connected with the loss of 

 our cattle, he told us that he could not speak favour- 

 ably of the tribes residing in that neighbourhood, 

 but that he would endeavour to have the oxen re- 

 stored ; and calling three of his black aides-de-camp, 

 he dispatched them immediately to the spot, with 

 instructions how to act in recovering the cattle. 



Meanwhile our Hottentots, having traced the oxen 

 by the spoor for some considerable distance, had dis- 

 covered them enclosed within a thicket, into which 

 they supposed the Caffers had driven them for con- 

 cealment, and having immediately released them, 

 brought them back, without encountering any ob- 

 stacle, much to our satisfaction, and contrary to our 

 expectations. 



