I passed the day in the company of Lieutenant Whight,
who commanded the police camp established there. The
camp consisted of a long alley edged with mud-plastered
huts, and roofed over with branches and thatch.
The way in which the natives construct these huts
deserves a special mention. A certain number of
branches about the thickness of a man’s arm and about
six feet in length are piled up on the ground. Without
the assistance of any cord to trace it, a man plants these
posts one after the other in the ground in a perfect
circle. Four boards, leaving a square hole of about
eighteen inches, are fixed to one of the sides of the
round part so as to furnish a window. Unlopped branches
are arranged in the shape of a funnel to form the roof,
and tied together at their extremities, while half-way down
they are attached one to the other by strips of bark. A
sort of mortar, composed of sand and cow-dung, is then
laid thickly on the posts planted in a circle, resulting
in a wall of about nine or ten inches thick. The roof is
then covered with a thatch made from blades of grass
about a yard to a yard and a half long, commencing from
the bottom and tapering off gradually to the top. A
trellis of reeds forms the door, which is very low, not
rising above four or five feet from the ground. At the
end of this double row of huts a small fort was erected.
That evening the town was en fête. From my waggon
I could hear the sounds of singing and the beating of
tom-toms, long monotonous chants interspersed with
yells, followed at intervals by a kind of strident cry
interrupted by applying the hand to the mouth. I got
near the part from whence this noise proceeded, and
after endless turning among the huts I thought I had
attained my object, for on the other side of a thick
hedge the concert was being held. I followed this hedge,
but in vain, for on all sides the ring whence proceeded
the singing was enclosed by thick, high branches, through
which it was impossible to see anything. I got near the
hedge and tried to pull myself up by means of a big
branch, in order, by looking over the top, to see what
was going on on the other side. I was just mounting
when two natives rushed on me and seized me from
behind. They were in a tremendous state of excitement,
gesticulating and uttering cries, none of which, of course,
I was able to understand. They then addressed themselves
to my head man, who had accompanied me, and
explained to him that a festival of young girls was
taking place, from which all males were rigorously excluded.
This was a breach of etiquette indeed; but I
charged my man to assure them that I had, no desire to
infringe their rules, and having thus appeased them, I
was invited to enter one of the huts, where I found a
number of other natives seated round a fire. I gave them
sixpence with which to buy some native beer, and we
became the best of friends.
The following evening (July 21st) I left Gaberones,
intending to make for the Marico river. The road was
excellent, and having started at six o’clock, I did not
outspan until ten. From Gaberones to Palla camp I
had the choice of three routes. The most interesting was
by Mochudi, the capital of the chief Linchwee. This road,
however, was unfortunately very bad and almost without
water the whole of the way. But for this consideration
I should have followed it, since Lieutenant Whight
informed me that about four miles from Mochudi there
is an immense stone covered with fossilized impressions
of the greatest interest: traces of human feet of colossal
dimensions, and of the feet of certain animals differing-
entirely from those we know at the present time. I
think it only right to refer to this, for the information of
any future travellers in these districts. Following the
advice given to me I chose the road along the Marico
river.
On the 23rd of July I reached John’s Staadt on the
river Marico. The town consists of a number of
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