of cotton plant they produce a very fair equivalent
for the genuine article, which they spin on spindles
and make into long strings. When the natives found
we cared for their ornaments they brought them
m large quantities, and our camp was inundated
with knives, snuff-boxes, bowls,
pottery, and all manner of odd
things. They were cunning too in
their dealings, bringing one by one
into camp small baskets full of
meal and other commodities from
b o n e o r n a m e n t s a large store outside, realising that
in this way they got many more
beads and more stretches of limbo than if they
brought it all at once. As for Umgabe himself, his
chief kraal and residence was six miles away, and
we saw but little of him after the first excitement of
our arrival had worn off; but his brother Ikomo,
the induna of the kraal on the hill behind the ruins,’
often came down to see us, and was a constant source
of annoyance, seeing that his friendly visits had
always some ulterior motive of getting something
out of us. On one of these occasions my wife had
collected a beautiful bowl of honey; the rascal Ikomo
first eyed it with covetousness and then plunged his
hand into the very midst thereof, and enjoyed his
fingers complacently for some time after, whilst she
in disgust had to throw away the best part of her
treasure.
Frequently Ikomo would try to interrupt our
work, and so frighten our black diggers from other
villages that they ran away, and we had to collect a
fresh team. On one occasion, whilst digging upon
the fortress, we disturbed a large rock, which slipped.
On it was perched one of their granaries, which
promptly fell to pieces, and the contents were scattered
far and wide. In vain we offered to pay for the
damage done; almost in no time we were surrounded
by a screaming crowd of angry men and women,
WOODEN SNUFF-BOXES
with Ikomo at their head, brandishing assegais and
other terrible weapons of war. For a moment the
affair looked serious ; all our blacks fled in haste, and
we, a small band of white men surrounded by the foe,
were doubtful what course to pursue. At length we
determined to stand their insults no longer, and
seizing whatever was nearest—spade, pick, or shovel
—we rushed at them, and forthwith Ikomo and his
valiant men fled like sheep before us, clambering up
F 2