Chap. III. 
SLOW PKOGEESS. 
59 
nonsense mthout any one daring to contradict liim. They probably 
have ascertained, from that same interpreter, that this relative of 
the white cliief is very poor, having scarcely anytliing in his waggon. 
I sometimes felt annoyed at the low estimation in which some 
of my hunting friends were held; for, believing that the chace is 
eminently conducive to the formation of a brave and noble cha¬ 
racter, and that the contest with wild beasts is well adapted for 
fostering that coolness in emergencies, and active presence of 
mind, which we all admire, I was naturally anxious that a higher 
estimate of my countrymen should be formed in the native mind. 
“Have these hunters, who come so far and work so hard, no 
meat at home ? “ Why, these men are rich, and could slaughter 
oxen every day of their lives.”—“ And yet they come here, and 
endure so much thirst for the sake of this dry meat, none of 
which is equal to beef?”—“Yes, it is for the sake of play be¬ 
sides ” (the idea of sport not being in the language). This pro¬ 
duces a laugh, as much as to say, “ Ah, you know better;” or, 
“ Your friends are fools.” Wlien they can get a man to kill large 
quantities of game for them, whatever he may think of himself 
or of Iris achievements, they pride themselves in having adroitly 
turned to good account the folly of an itinerant butcher. 
The water having at last flowed into the weUs we had dug, 
in sufficient quantity to allow a good drink to aU our cattle, we 
departed from Seroth in the afternoon; but as the sun even in 
winter, which it now was, is always very powerful by day, the 
waggons were dragged but slowly tlnrough the deep heavy sand, 
and we advanced only six miles before sunset. We could only 
travel in the mornings and evenings, as a single day in the hot 
sun and heavy sand would have knocked up the oxen. Next day 
we passed Pepacheu (wliite tufa), a hollow hned with tufa, in 
which water sometimes stands, but it was now dry; and at night 
our trocheamer ^ showed that we had made but twenty-five miles 
from Serotli. 
Kamotobi was angry at the slowness of our progress, and told 
us that, as the next water was three days in front, if we travelled 
* This is an instrument which, when fastened on the waggon-wheel, re¬ 
cords the number of revolutions made. By multiplying this number by the 
circumference of the wheel the actual distance travelled over is at once 
ascertained. 
