INTUHE’S SLAVE 
243 
give us any assistance in his power; and before long we told 
him who we were, and what it was our intention to do. On 
hearing that we wished to proceed up the Cubango, he looked 
very grave, and told us that it was impossible for' us to go 
that way, as some white men had killed a chief near Darico 
on the river, and the natives would never allow another white 
man into the country. He advised us to go to Lake Ngami. 
This tale seemed to accord with what Indala had previously 
told me at our first meeting, and therefore made a considerable 
impression on us; for with the small troop of men we had, 
it was impossible to force our way through really hostile 
tribes. We might fight our way past a small chief; but when 
the whole country was unanimously up in arms against white 
people, it gave a different complexion to our chances. I may j 
at once confess to the reader that afterwards we found this , 
was a trumped-up tale, told us for reasons which appear later. 
The other course open westward to Walfish bay had little 
interest for us, our principal object being to follow the main 
water-courses of the country; and as there was a good stretch 
of river lying between here and Lake Ngami unexplored, 
we began to look favourably upon this route, although our 
minds were really set westward up the Cubango. I offered 
Intuhe £100 if he would accompany us with his force past 
Darico, but he gravely told me, and quite correctly also, that 
his king was not at war with the people of Darico, and there¬ 
fore he dare not go, and that we had better follow his advice 
and go to the lake. 
While Intuhe was talking to us, Indala’s nephew, a young 
man called Libebe, came with four of his followers to beg from 
us. They were armed with flintlock guns, and bows and 
arrows. Intuhe recognised one of his slaves, who had deserted 
him on a former visit here, amongst Libebe’s henchmen, and, 
turning, asked him sharply who his master was. The man 
impudently told him to mind his own business, when Intuhe 
said, ‘ The man who is your master has the right to kill you 
if he likes.’ At these words Libebe and his men got up and 
