20 
and all tlie tribes, at least that we saw, even far up the 
country, always wore something — the women, a wide piece 
of Salempore, like a very short petticoat, round the loins ; 
and the men, a ^^Mouchie," that is, a strap round the 
waist, from which hangs a piece of skin, or, perhaps, a 
cluster of cats' tails, much in effect like a kilt. The next 
day Dubois arrived, and, after an interview with him, it 
was settled that he should go with us, and undertake the 
management of the trip, receiving £15 a month, and all 
found. I liked him extremely, but had my doubts as to 
his being strong enough for the work, as he was hardly 
recovered from an attack of fever he had had while in the 
interior the previous year ; but he vowed he was all right, 
and so the bargain was struck. 
We were very busy the next few days enquiring after 
oxen, wagons, ponies, and other necessaries. Owing to 
the prevalence of the redwater and lung sickness amongst 
the cattle, oxen were comparatively scarce and dear. I 
bought thirty, averaging about £7 10s. a head. Next I 
bought two buck wagons, one entirely covered with a 
canvas tent for ourselves to travel in ; the other was to be 
covered about half way, for Kemp and Dubois to sleep in. 
Cost £80 each. I found afterwards I had made a great 
mistake in buying ^^buck" instead of ^^cap tent" wagons, 
as the former are much the heavier of the two, and there- 
fore not so suited to the tracks called roads, along which 
we had to travel ; but being much wider, are far more 
comfortable to live in, and, of course, this was a con- 
sideration. Horses and ponies were plentiful enough, and 
animals for £9 or £10 could be got easily, quite good 
enough for our work ; and even cheaper nags would have 
answered the purpose, for I lost every one of them, as it 
turned out. The better the class of horse, the cheaper he 
seemed to be, in that animals worth about £10 to £15 at 
home, would be worth about the same out here ; but, on 
