Page:Seven Years in South Africa v2.djvu/492

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Seven Years in South Africa.

drink, they must confine themselves to their own houses or their own waggons; he for his part was quite resolved that they should not make an exhibition of themselves before his subjects.

The Matabele who had come with us were the bearers of a letter from Lo Bengula, inviting Khame to co-operate with the President of the Transvaal Republic in preventing the advance of the Damara emigrants.

My late travelling-companions only stayed at Shoshong two or three days, and then started for the south, leaving me with Mr. Mackenzie. Before his departure, Westbeech cleared out the ivory from a waggon of which he was not in immediate want, and placed the vehicle at my disposal. On the 25th and 26th I was feeling considerably better, and found much amusement in inspecting all the collections I had made. There was a Captain G. staying in the place, on his way back from a hunting-tour on the Limpopo, who expressed himself highly delighted with what I showed him. In the evening I wrote my journal, except when Mr. Mackenzie kept me in conversation, and supplied me with additional particulars about the Bamangwatos. It was a great satisfaction to me to find that I could now converse with Khame in Sechuana, without the aid of an interpreter.

Three weeks passed away without anything transpiring particularly to record, until the 13th of May, when the native postman brought the news that war had broken out in the Transvaal between the Boers and Sekokuni. During my leisure time I undertook, at Khame’s request, to prescribe for some of his people who were ill; Mr. Mackenzie