said that they would promise to furnish more than fifty men armed
with muskets and mounted on good horses, in case the Cape government
would send ammunition and a strong commando. Mattivi
talked very seriously with him, and appeared warmly desirous that
I should return to the Colony and bring back a more numerous
party; for, said he, if Mondrri means to go among the tribes beyond
Litakun, with so few men as he has now with him, he will only go
there for his death, and I shall therefore oppose his proceeding
farther in that direction.
This declaration was too important, and interested me too
closely, not to create some uneasiness in my mind, lest he should
eventually attempt forcibly to restrain me from travelling in that
quarter. As to the truth of the story, or the just foundation there
might be for these pretended fears for my safety, I believed Mattivi,
as little as I had believed the Klaarwater tales; because, I could
discern through that flimsy veil, motives which had no connection
whatever with my safety or with my success.
He told Berends, that he had just received information that the
oxen, which had been sent to him as a present from Mokkaba (or
Makkaba) the Nuakketsi Chief, were so infected with the poison of
sorcery, for the purpose of causing his death, that he did not dare to
make use of them. He added, that as there happened to be one of these
among the oxen which he had given me, he should take it back and
give me another; for, that if I should retain it and take it home to
my country, it would induce ill-will between my nation and his. When
Berends offered to take these oxen from him in barter, Mattivi was
highly averse from the proposal, and declared very positively, that he
would never consent to any of his friends having one of them.
Soon after these Hottentots left me, the whole town was thrown
into a state of alarm, by intelligence brought by a small party of
Bachapins who had just arrived from their out-posts or cattle-stations
situated at a considerable distance northward. This party had
travelled with their utmost speed since the morning of the day
before, and hasted directly to Mattivi, to inform him that four of
these cattle-stations had been attacked in the night by a large body
of TdmmSkas (or Bdtdmmtlkas), who had succeeded in carrying off
the whole of the cattle, after having killed one of the men, and three
of the boys, who had charge of them. These out-posts are in general
but weakly guarded, as the herds are attended chiefly by very
young boys; there being at each post, seldom more than three or
four men for its protection. The enemy, it seems, came quite unexpectedly
; and, favoured by the darkness of the night, had stolen upon
them before they had time to disperse the herd or drive the oxen to
some other place of greater security.
The same degree of despatch, with which this intelligence had
been conveyed, was employed in all their movements; for in less
than half an hour after its arrival, a large body of men from the lower
part of the town, and to which these cattle had belonged, marched, or
rather ran, off with the utmost speed to overtake the enemy if possible,
and recover their property. They took with them no provisions,
nor any thing but their hassagays. I watched them with my
telescope, as they passed over the hills on the farther side of the
town, till they were out of sight: they departed in a confused
manner, without the least appearance of military regularity; of which
I do not believe that these tribes have any notion. Several smaller
parties quickly followed in the same straggling manner.
The crying and loud lamentations of women, for, either the loss
of those who had been murdered, or for their husbands or sons who
had just left them, and might, perhaps, never return alive, were now
heard in various parts of the town. Mollemmi was, on this occasion,
the principal acting person in sending off the detachments: the
Chief himself, and Serrakutu, were so much occupied in this affair,
that we saw little more of them in the mootsi, during the rest of the
day.
We were not, however, left without our usual company of natives;
and nearly as many as before, continued to frequent the enclosure,
and to sit around our fire. In addition to these, we had several of
the Klaarwater Hottentots ; and the whole party thus assembled,
always expected to receive a piece of meat from out of our pot.