Here For The First Time I Had Leisure To Follow The Instructions
Of My Kind Teacher, Mr. Maclear, And Calculated Several Longitudes
From Lunar Distances.
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.
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