Chap. XIII. 
PUBLIC ADDRESSES. 
235 
Makololo were much enraged at the idea of their good name 
being compromised by tliis treatment of a stranger. Their cus¬ 
tomary mode of punishing a crime which causes much indigna¬ 
tion is to throw the criminal into the river, but, as this would 
not restore the lost property, they were sorely puzzled how to 
act. The case was referred to me, and I solved the difficulty 
by paying for the loss myself, and sentencing the thief to work 
out an equivalent with his hoe in a garden. This system was 
immediately introduced, and thieves are now sentenced to raise 
an amount of corn proportioned to them offences. Among the 
Bakwains, a woman who had stolen from the garden of another, 
was obliged to part with her own entirely; it became the pro¬ 
perty of her whose field was injured by the crime. 
There is no stated day of rest in any part of this country, 
except the day after the appearance of the new moon, and the 
people then refrain only from going to their gardens. A curious 
custom, not to be found among the Bechuanas, prevails among 
the black tribes beyond them. They watch most eagerly for the 
first glimpse of the new moon, and, when they perceive the faint 
outline after the sun has set deep in the west, they utter a loud 
shout of ‘‘Kua!” and vociferate prayers to it. My men, for 
instance, called out, “ Let our journey with the white man be 
prosperous! Let our enemies perish, and the children of Nake 
become rich! May he have plenty of meat on this journey!” 
&c. &c. 
I gave many public addresses to the people of Sesheke under 
the outspreading camel-thorn tree, which serves as a shade to 
the kotla on the high bank of the river. It was pleasant to 
see the long lines of men, women, and children winding along 
from different quarters of the town, each party following behind 
their respective head men. They often amounted to between 
five and six hundred souls, and required an exertion of voice 
which brought back the complaint for wliich I had got the uvula 
excised at the Cape. They were always very attentive; and 
Moriantsane, in order, as he thought, to please me, on one occa¬ 
sion rose up in the middle of the discourse, and hurled his staff 
at the heads of some young fellows, whom he saw working with 
a skin instead of listening. My hearers sometimes put very 
sensible questions on the subjects brought before them ; at other 
