He Could Not Be Moved On The 16th, So I Marched Across The Plain
And Put Up In Some Villages On Its Western Side.
Whilst waiting
for the sheikh's arrival, some villagers at night stole several
loads of beads, and ran off with
Them; but my men, finding the
theft out in time, hunted them down, and recovered all but one
load - for the thieves had thrown their loads down as soon as they
found they were hotly pursued.
Early this morning I called all the head men of the village
together, and demanded the beads to be restored to me; for, as I
was living with them, they were responsible, according to the
laws of the country. They acknowledged the truth and force of my
demand, and said they would each give me a cow as an earnest,
until their chief, who was absent, arrived. This, of course, was
objected to, as the chief, in his absence, must have deputed some
one to govern for him, and I expected him to settle at once, that
I might proceed with the march. Then selecting five of my head
men to conduct the case, with five of their elders, it was
considered my losses were equivalent to thirty head of cattle.
As I remitted the penalty to fifteen head, these were made over
to me, and we went on with the march - all feeling delighted with
the issue but the Hottentots, who, not liking the loss of the
second fifteen cows, said that in Kafirland, where the laws of
the country are the same as here, the whole would have been
taken, and, as it was, they thought I was depriving them of their
rights to beef.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 117 of 767
Words from 31817 to 32102
of 210958
