THE SAME-continued

THE parts of the colony through which we passed were of sterile aspect; and as the present winter had been preceded by a severe drought, many farmers had lost two-thirds of their stock. The landscape was uninviting; the hills, destitute of trees, were of a dark-brown colour, and the scanty vegetation on the plains made me feel that they were more deserving of the name of Desert than the Kalahari. The soil is said to have been originally covered with a coating of grass, which has disappeared with the antelopes which fed upon it.

Before we reached the Orange river we saw the last portion of a migration of springbucks. They come from the great Kalahari Desert, and, when first they cross the colonial boundary, are said to exceed forty thousand in number. I cannot venture on an estimate, for they spread over a vast expanse of country, and make a quivering motion as they graze, and toss their graceful horns. They live chiefly on grass; and as they come from the north about the time when grass most abounds, it cannot be want of food that prompts the movement. Nor is it want of water, for this antelope is one of the most abstemious in that respect. The cause of the migration would seem to be their preference for places where they can watch the approach of a foe. When oxen are taken into a country of high grass, their sense of danger is increased by the power of concealment which the cover affords, and they will often start off in terror at the ill-defined outlines of each other. The springbuck possesses this feeling in an intense degree, and, being

eminently gregarious, gets uneasy as the grass of the Kalahari grows tall. The vegetation being scantier in the more arid south, the herds turn in that direction. As they advance and increase in numbers, the pasturage gets so scarce, that in order to subsist they are at last obliged to cross the Orange river, and become the pest of the sheep-farmer in a country which contains little of their favourite food. If they light on a field of wheat in their way, an army of locusts could not make a cleaner sweep of the whole. They have never been seen returning. Many perish from want, and the rest become scattered over the colony. Notwithstanding their constant destruction by firearms, they will probably continue long to hold their place. The Bakalahari take advantage of the love of a springbuck for an uninterrupted view, and burn off large patches of grass, both to attract the game by the fresh herbage which springs up, and to form bare spots for them to range over.

On crossing the Orange river we come into the independent territory inhabited by Griquas and Bechuanas. By Griquas is meant any mixed race sprung from natives and Europeans. These were of Dutch extraction, through associates with Hottentots and Bushwomen. Half-castes of the first generation consider themselves superior to those of the second, and all possess in some degree the characteristics of both parents. They were governed for many years by an elected chief named Waterboer, who proved a most efficient guard of our north-west boundary. He drove back a formidable force of marauding Mantatees that threatened to invade the colony, and, except for his firm and brave rule, there

is every probability that the north-west would have given the colonists as much trouble as the eastern frontier. Large numbers among the original Griquas had as little scruple about robbing farmers of cattle as the Caffres, but, on his election to the chieftainship, he declared that no marauding should be allowed. Some of his principal men disregarded the injunction, and plundered certain villages of Corannas. He seized six of the ringleaders, summoned his council, and tried, condemned, and publicly executed them all. This produced an insurrection, and the insurgents twice attacked his capital, Griqua Town. He defeated both attempts, and during his long reign of thirty years no plundering expedition ever issued from his territory.

Ten years after he was firmly established in power, he entered into a treaty with the Colonial Government; and, during the twenty years which followed, not a single charge was ever brought against either him or his people. Sir George Cathcart not only abrogated the treaty with the Griquas, but prohibited their purchasing gunpowder for their own defence. An exception was made in favour of the Transvaal Boers and Caffres, our avowed enemies, while the Bechuanas and Griquas, our constant allies, are debarred from obtaining a single ounce. Such an error could not have been committed by a man of local knowledge and experience, and such instances of confounding friend and foe, under the idea of promoting colonial interests, will probably lead the Cape community to assert the right of choosing their own governors.-Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa. 1857.

THE MEETING OF LIVINGSTONE AND

STANLEY

BY DAVID LIVINGSTONE

October 23, 1871.—At dawn, off and go to Ujiji. Welcomed by all the Arabs, particularly by Moenyegheré. I was now reduced to a skeleton, but the market being held daily, and all kinds of native food brought to it, I hoped that food and rest would soon restore me, but in the evening my people came and told me that Shereef had sold all my goods, and Moenyegheré confirmed it by saying, "We protested, but he did not leave a single yard of calico out of 3000, nor a string of beads out of 700 lb." This was distressing. I had made up my mind, if I could not get people at Ujiji, to wait till men should come from the coast, but to wait in beggary was what I never contemplated, and I now felt miserable. Shereef was evidently a moral idiot, for he came without shame to shake hands with me, and when I refused, assumed an air of displeasure, as having been badly treated; and afterwards came with his "Balghere," good-luck salutation, twice a day, and on leaving said,

I am going to pray," till I told him that were I an Arab, his hand and both ears would be cut off for thieving, as he knew, and I wanted no salutations from him. In my distress it was annoying to see Shereef's slaves passing from the market with all the good things that my goods had bought.

24th October.-My property had been sold to Shereef's

friends at merely nominal prices. Syed bin Majid, a good man, proposed that they should be returned, and the ivory be taken from Shereef; but they would not restore stolen property, though they knew it to be stolen. Christians would have acted differently, even those of the lowest classes. I felt in my destitution as if I were the man who went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves; but I could not hope for Priest, Levite, or good Samaritan to come by on either side, but one morning Syed bin Najid said to me, "Now, this is the first time we have been alone together; I have no goods, but I have ivory; let me, I pray you, sell some ivory, and give the goods to you." This was encouraging; but I said, "Not yet, but by-and-bye.” I had still a few barter goods left, which I had taken the precaution to deposit with Mohamad bin Saleh before going to Manyuema, in case of returning in extreme need. But when my spirits were at their lowest ebb, the good Samaritan was close at hand, for one morning Susi came running at the top of his speed and gasped out, "An Englishman! I see him!" and off he darted to meet The American flag at the head of a caravan told of the nationality of the stranger. Bales of goods, baths of tin, huge kettles, cooking pots, tents, etc., made me think "This must be a luxurious traveller, and not one at his wits' end like me." (28th October.) It was Henry Morton Stanley, the travelling correspondent of the New York Herald, sent by James Gordon Bennett, junior, at an expense of more than £4000, to obtain accurate information about Dr. Livingstone if living, and if dead to bring home my bones. The news he had to

him.