NATIVE CLOTHES 
13 
able opportunity. The traders here profit by this demand for 
goods, and, being protected by the king against untimely moles¬ 
tation, I believe .make a handsome thing out of their dealings, 
when the natives have a quid pro quo to offer in the shape of 
ostrich feathers, ivory, or hides, the only valuable product of 
the country worth transporting to other markets. 
In and about the village the better class male natives all 
wear European clothing, showing a preference for the finer 
sorts, such as tweed cloth and billycock hats; they rather seemed 
to consider us, arrayed in moleskins, as belonging to the lower 
orders, and we found it advantageous to don our best suit of 
tweeds, already laid by on leaving Pretoria, in order to impress 
our visitors with a proper sense of respect for our dignity. 
It was a most instructive sight to see a tall, graceful, well- 
clad native decorously approach our camp with a following of 
four or five henchmen, one of whom was sure to be carrying his 
chair. To our inexperienced eyes, this person, when he lifted his 
hat in dignified salute, appeared at least to be the bearer of some 
diplomatic mission from the king. After the usual handshake, 
he would take his seat and begin with a modest request for 
a little tobacco, and woe to your peace of mind if this request 
were too readily complied with, for immediately after out would 
come a list of all his wants, from a suit of clothes to a snuff-box. 
And if we could not supply the one, then why not the other ? 
while the hat one wore would fit him very well if one did not 
feel inclined to let him have the very boots one stood in. Even 
a little sugar, or salt, or perhaps the pot on the fire, would be 
acceptable to him. Failing to get any of these, the epithet 
‘ misers 5 was liberally applied to us, as with a farewell shake of 
the hand this pest would take his dignified departure, promising 
to ‘ call again ’ about that pot, or whatever else had taken his 
particular fancy. 
Never having been in. Constantinople, I cannot draw a 
parallel between the canine inhabitants of that glorious city and 
the scavengers of Shoshong. However, if they support as many 
hungry dogs to the square yard in Constantinople as this village 
