58 COMMANDO AGAINST THE BUSHMEN. [1820. 
that had stolen a goat, while we were there, and 
who immediately on its being proved, was punished 
by Kossie. But Mateebe being a soft, easy man, 
in such a case would only give the person a 
scolding, or a few threats, which would not be 
regarded. He then said that I had been intro- 
duced to him as a captain, and that he had treated 
me as such. What Mateebe had in view by the 
last remark, without adding any thing more, I 
was uncertain, but we afterwards supposed 
it might be intended as a hint that we should 
offer to assist him in forcing his captain^ 
Moeete, who is rich in cattle, to return to 
Lattakoo. 
During our absence from Lattakoo, the Bush- 
men had stolen twenty head of cattle from 
Mateebe's people ; a commando immediately 
pursued and overtook them on the plain, when 
they killed ten men, five women, and five 
children. On returning from the slaughter, a 
peetso, or general meeting was held, and all the 
circumstances attending it were related. After 
which, men and women dispersed themselves over 
the town, imitating the screams of those persons 
who had been killed, repeating their expressions 
of terror, and representing their actions when beg- 
ging for their lives. The Lattakoo women dis- 
covered on this occasion a more cruel disposition 
than even the men. They imitated, with much 
