1811. 
TWO BUSHMEN. 
227 
At about four o'clock we again put the thirsty oxen to the wag- 
gons ; and just as we were moving off, two men, mounted on oxen, 
rode up to us. They were Bushmen belonging to a kraal* near the 
Zak river. The people of this horde being in amity with the boors, 
were therefore denominated Makke Boschjesmans (Tame Bushmen). 
One of them, who was called their Captain, carried in his hand the 
ensign of his authority, a staff about four feet long, having a large 
tabular top of brass, on which were inscribed a few words, showing 
that he had been elevated to that rank by Governor Caledon. 
A number of these staves have been given away, as well by the 
English as by the Dutch government, mostly to Hottentot chiefs. 
They are, together with the influence pertaining to them, handed 
down from father to son, conformably to the right of inheritance ; and 
the possessor is always acknowledged as the head, and, with the Cape 
authorities, the lawful representative of his own particular kraal or 
tribe ; and therefore has, or ought to have, some degree of consider- 
ation shown to him by the landdrosts and field-cornets. This act of 
policy in the colonial government has, in most cases, the effect of 
securing the allegiance and friendly disposition of these kraals, espe- 
cially as it is often, perhaps always, accompanied by a certain annual 
stipend or present 
These two Bushmen, as they told us, had been employed by the 
farmers residing on the Zak river, to carry a letter to the landdrost 
of Tulbagh, requesting assistance and protection against the above- 
mentioned party of Caffres, whose threats of a hostile attack had 
induced them to desert their habitations. This captain, whose kraal 
were also sufferers from the Caffres, was now on his return with 
the landdrost's answer ; but was at this place deviating somewhat 
from his direct road, in order to fetch a pack-ox, which, in his 
former journey, being over-fatigued, he had been obliged to leave by 
the way. After giving us this information, and promising to join us 
* A Hottentot word, used, properly, for signifying a village, or horde. 
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