326 
AFRICA AND ITS EXPLORATION. 
toes and fingers should first be cut off and preserved as 
a charm in a war-drum. 
In spite of the secrecy which was enjoined, the 
rumour of the resolution came to one of the chiefs, who 
communicated it privately to many of his friends. This 
was about the end of September, when Blockley was the 
only white man left in Sesheke. Night after night 
groups of men were to be seen stealthily making their 
way past his quarters to the woods ; they were the 
servants of the chiefs, carrying away the young boys 
whither they hoped to have them out of the tyrant’s 
reach, and some little time elapsed before either the king 
or his executioner was aware of the steps that were 
being taken to frustrate the bloody order. 
The appointed day arrived. Mashoku’s emissaries 
were sent to ascertain from which of the chieftain’s 
enclosures a victim might most readily be procured, but 
one by one they returned and reported that not a child 
was to be found. At last, however, one of the men 
brought word that he had seen a solitary boy playing 
outside his father’s fence. Apprised of this, the king 
immediately sent directions to the father to go out at 
once and procure some grass and reeds for a hut that he 
was building, and then charged Mashoku to lose no time. 
As soon as he had satisfied himself that the man had 
left his home, Mashoku sent his messenger to fetch the 
child to the royal courtyard, where, although the place 
was full of people, a perfect silence prevailed. The king 
was in a terribly bad temper, and no one dared to breathe 
a word. The executioner’s assistant made his way to 
the abode of the chief, and was greeted by the mistress 
of the house with a friendly “ rumela ” ; he then pro¬ 
ceeded to tell her that thekosana, her husband, was just 
setting out in his canoe, and that he had sent him to say 
he wished his little son to go with him. The mother 
acquiesced, and the boy was delighted to accompany the 
man, who of course took him oft' to the royal courtyard, 
where a sign from Mashoku announced their arrival to 
the moody king. Sepopo started to his feet, and accom¬ 
panied by his band, made his way towards the river, the 
