The Natives All Cultivate The Dourrha Or Holcus Sorghum,
Maize, Pumpkins, Melons, Cucumbers, And Different Kinds Of Beans;
And They Are Entirely Dependent For The Growth Of These On Rains.
Their Instrument Of Culture Is The Hoe, And The Chief Labor Falls
On The Female Portion Of The Community.
In this respect
the Bechuanas closely resemble the Caffres.
The men engage in hunting,
milk the cows, and have the entire control of the cattle;
they prepare the skins, make the clothing, and in many respects
may be considered a nation of tailors.
When at Sekomi's we generally have heard his praises sounded
by a man who rises at break of day, and utters at the top of his voice
the oration which that ruler is said to have composed at his boguera.
This repetition of his "leina", or oration, is so pleasing to a chief,
that he generally sends a handsome present to the man who does it.
JANUARY 28TH. Passing on to Letloche, about twenty miles
beyond the Bamangwato, we found a fine supply of water.
This is a point of so much interest in that country that the first question
we ask of passers by is, "Have you had water?" the first inquiry
a native puts to a fellow-countryman is, "Where is the rain?" and,
though they are by no means an untruthful nation, the answer generally is,
"I don't know - there is none - we are killed with hunger and by the sun."
If news is asked for, they commence with, "There is no news:
I heard some lies only," and then tell all they know.
This spot was Mr. Gordon Cumming's furthest station north.
Our house at Kolobeng having been quite in the hunting-country,
rhinoceros and buffaloes several times rushed past, and I was able
to shoot the latter twice from our own door. We were favored
by visits from this famous hunter during each of the five years
of his warfare with wild animals. Many English gentlemen
following the same pursuits paid their guides and assistants so punctually
that in making arrangements for them we had to be careful that four did not go
where two only were wanted: they knew so well that an Englishman would pay
that they depended implicitly on his word of honor, and not only
would they go and hunt for five or six months in the north,
enduring all the hardships of that trying mode of life,
with little else but meat of game to subsist on, but they willingly went
seven hundred or eight hundred miles to Graham's Town,
receiving for wages only a musket worth fifteen shillings.
No one ever deceived them except one man; and as I believed
that he was afflicted with a slight degree of the insanity of greediness,
I upheld the honor of the English name by paying his debts.
As the guides of Mr. Cumming were furnished through my influence,
and usually got some strict charges as to their behavior before parting,
looking upon me in the light of a father, they always came to give me
an account of their service, and told most of those hunting adventures
which have since been given to the world, before we had
the pleasure of hearing our friend relate them himself by our own fireside.
I had thus a tolerably good opportunity of testing their accuracy,
and I have no hesitation in saying that for those who love that sort of thing
Mr. Cumming's book conveys a truthful idea of South African hunting.
Some things in it require explanation, but the numbers of animals
said to have been met with and killed are by no means improbable,
considering the amount of large game then in the country.
Two other gentlemen hunting in the same region destroyed in one season
no fewer than seventy-eight rhinoceroses alone.
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