The Hearty Manner In Which That Eminent Astronomer
And Frank, Friendly Man Had Promised To Aid Me In Calculating And Verifying
My Work, Conduced More Than Any Thing Else To Inspire Me With Perseverance
In Making Astronomical Observations Throughout The Journey.
The grass here was so tall that the oxen became uneasy, and one night
the sight of a hyaena made them rush away into the forest to the east of us.
On rising on the morning of the 19th, I found that my Bakwain lad
had run away with them.
This I have often seen with persons of this tribe,
even when the cattle are startled by a lion. Away go the young men
in company with them, and dash through bush and brake for miles,
till they think the panic is a little subsided; they then commence
whistling to the cattle in the manner they do when milking the cows:
having calmed them, they remain as a guard till the morning.
The men generally return with their shins well peeled by the thorns.
Each comrade of the Mopato would expect his fellow to act thus,
without looking for any other reward than the brief praise of the chief.
Our lad, Kibopechoe, had gone after the oxen, but had lost them in the rush
through the flat, trackless forest. He remained on their trail
all the next day and all the next night. On Sunday morning,
as I was setting off in search of him, I found him near the wagon.
He had found the oxen late in the afternoon of Saturday, and had been obliged
to stand by them all night. It was wonderful how he managed
without a compass, and in such a country, to find his way home at all,
bringing about forty oxen with him.
The Bechuanas will keep on the sick-list as long as they feel any weakness;
so I at last began to be anxious that they should make a little exertion
to get forward on our way. One of them, however, happening to move
a hundred yards from the wagon, fell down, and, being unobserved,
remained the whole night in the pouring rain totally insensible;
another was subjected to frequent swooning; but, making beds in the wagons
for these our worst cases, with the help of the Bakwain and the Bushmen,
we moved slowly on. We had to nurse the sick like children;
and, like children recovering from illness, the better they became
the more impudent they grew. This was seen in the peremptory orders
they would give with their now piping voices. Nothing that we did
pleased them; and the laughter with which I received their ebullitions,
though it was only the real expression of gladness at their recovery,
and amusement at the ridiculous part they acted, only increased their chagrin.
The want of power in the man who guided the two front oxen,
or, as he was called, the "leader", caused us to be entangled with trees,
both standing and fallen, and the labor of cutting them down was even
more severe than ordinary; but, notwithstanding an immense amount of toil,
my health continued good.
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