AFRICA. ^ 293 
anxiety, when I faw it completely dried, and 
in a ftate of perfed: prefervation. 
It v/ould have been, perhaps, more in the 
order of things to have vifited my cattle before 
the giraffe, fince they, in reality, were of the 
mofi: confequence to me; yet they had only the 
fccond place in my care. They were feeding 
in the environs, wdiere the paiturage wms fine. 
Some goats had kidded ; but all my old oxen, 
one after another, had died, five excepted, which 
were ftill in a weak and exhaufled ftate, though 
labouring under no difeafe. Notw^ithftand- 
rng all the pains Swanepoei had taken to pur- 
chafe others, he had been able to procure no 
mere than feventeen oxen and three bulls^ 
which fortunately were in good condition. 
During thefe different examinations, I had 
perceived among the people in my fcrvicc 
fome thirty new faces. I faw alfo at a little 
diftance from the camp a certain number of 
ftrange huts. On demanding an explanation 
of this, I wa^ told, that part of the ftrangers 
were favages from th^ neighbouring hordes 
fent to procure tobacco. The huts had been 
ereded by other favages, who had come to 
fettle under the proieclion of Sw^anepoci, to 
U J be 
