t behold him in his unaccustomed bravery.

That I had been lucky enough to make an exceedingly favourable
impression upon the king was perfectly evident; but by what magic the
intelligence should instantaneously become disseminated among the people
I know not. Yet so it was; for while upon my approach to the town it
had been quite exceptional for a native to salute me, upon my departure
from it every man I met punctiliously gave me "'Nkos'!" as I passed him.
And in less than an hour after my return to the wagon an induna arrived
from the town accompanied by a couple of natives leading a pair of
superb Basuto ponies--a stallion and a mare, both unbroken--as a present
from the king. And as the Basuto horses are far and away the finest
horses in South Africa, and the pair presented to me were exceptionally
fine animals of their kind, the gift was an exceedingly valuable one,
although, being unbroken, I anticipated plenty of trouble with them
before they would be of any use to me. But I may say here that in this
anticipation I was very agreeably disappointed, for although they were
as wild as deer when first brought to me, I took them in hand forthwith,
and by dint of patience and making pets of them I soon had them both so
docile that they would come at my call; and within a month I had backed
them both. But, after all, valuable as they were for breeding purposes,
they were not of very much use to me personally, being scarcely up to my
weight. Nevertheless, I frequently rode them for an hour or two, just
to keep them in training, and to ease my other horses a little. They
were both coal black, and I called them respectively Jack and Jill--not
very high--flown names, perhaps, but exceedingly handy.

There was a good deal of singing and dancing going on in the town that
night, the rumpus being so great that it was well on into the small
hours before it subsided sufficiently to allow me to get to sleep; and
on the following morning I learned, through my boy Piet, that so great
had been the king's gratification at the result of his interview with me
that he had given ten oxen from his own private herd as a feast in
celebration of my arrival.

Anxious to press forward upon my journey, and anxious also to get away
from Moshesh's kraal while the relations were so exceedingly cordial, I
sent a message to the king, early upon the following morning, requesting
his permission to depart. But instead of receiving a gracious ass