On The Day After Our Arrival At The Lake, I Applied To Lechulatebe
For Guides To Sebituane.
As he was much afraid of that chief, he objected,
fearing lest other white men should go thither also,
And give Sebituane guns;
whereas, if the traders came to him alone, the possession of fire-arms
would give him such a superiority that Sebituane would be afraid of him.
It was in vain to explain that I would inculcate peace between them -
that Sebituane had been a father to him and Sechele, and was
as anxious to see me as he, Lechulatebe, had been. He offered to give me
as much ivory as I needed without going to that chief;
but when I refused to take any, he unwillingly consented to give me guides.
Next day, however, when Oswell and I were prepared to start,
with the horses only, we received a senseless refusal; and like Sekomi,
who had thrown obstacles in our way, he sent men to the Bayeiye with orders
to refuse us a passage across the river. Trying hard to form a raft
at a narrow part, I worked many hours in the water; but the dry wood
was so worm-eaten it would not bear the weight of a single person.
I was not then aware of the number of alligators which exist in the Zouga,
and never think of my labor in the water without feeling thankful
that I escaped their jaws. The season was now far advanced;
and as Mr. Oswell, with his wonted generous feelings, volunteered,
on the spot, to go down to the Cape and bring up a boat,
we resolved to make our way south again.
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