returned from the exile to which his father had
consigned him on account of his steadfast adherence to Christianity, and
having succeeded to the chieftainship of the Bamangwato, moved the tribe
from its previous dwelling-place at Shoshong, some seventy miles to the
south-west, and fixed it here. Such migrations and foundations of new
towns are not uncommon in South Africa, as they were not uncommon in
India in the days of the Pathan and Mogul sovereigns, when each new
occupant of the throne generally chose a new residence to fortify or
adorn. Why this particular site was chosen I do not know. It stands
high, and is free from malaria, and there are springs of water in the
craggy hill behind; but the country all round is poor, rocky in some
places, sandy in others, and less attractive than some other parts of
Bechuanaland. We entered the town late at night, delayed by the deep
sand on the track, and wandered about in the dark for a long while
before, after knocking at one hut after another, we could persuade any
native to come out and show us the way to the little cluster of European
dwellings. The Kafirs are terribly afraid of the night, and fear the
ghosts, which are to them the powers of darkness, more than they care
for offers of money.

Khama was absent in England, pressing upon the Colonial Office his
objections to the demand made by the British South Africa Company that
his kingdom should be brought within the scope of their administration
and a railway constructed through it from Mafeking to Bulawayo. Besides
the natural wish of a monarch to retain his authority undiminished, he
was moved by the desire to keep his subjects from the use of
intoxicating spirits, a practice which the establishment of white men
among them would make it difficult, if not impossible, to prevent. The
main object of Khama's life and rule has been to keep his people from
intoxicants. His feelings were expressed in a letter to a British
Commissioner, in which he said: "I fear Lo Bengula less than I fear
brandy. I fought against Lo Bengula and drove him back. He never gives
me a sleepless night. But to fight against drink is to fight against
demons and not men. I fear the white man's drink more than the assagais
of the Matabili, which kill men's bodies. Drink puts devils into men and
destroys their souls and bodies." Though a Christian himself, and giving
the missionaries in his dominions every facility for their work, he has
never attempte