A HOARY OLD RASCAL 
197 
work, we slept the sleep of the just, until next morning, when we 
again had a huge discussion with Mr. Sakoonima, who insisted 
that we should make over to him various other goods on the 
spot, otherwise he threatened to leave. He asserted that the 
SWEET WATER PAN 
payment made him the previous day was not a tithe of what 
he expected for the services he and his boys had rendered us 
so far, and appeared to desire a daily settlement, while we were 
under the impression that the payments made were in com¬ 
pensation for the whole journey to the Okovanga. There was 
something humorous about the whole affair that caused us to 
laugh good-naturedly at the idea of this old fellow, unjustly but 
determinedly, demanding goods from us, who could without any 
difficulty have mastered him in a moment. There was, however, 
the route to the Okovanga before us to be traversed, and that 
was a matter of no small moment to us. And after all, the things 
he got did not amount to much, from our point of view. Yet 
when I think of that hoary old rascal, and his grasping avarice, 
which he took the opportunity of displaying at every camp we 
made, and the presents we continually had to give him to keep 
