The African sketch-book . f the creatures skin, therider rocks to and fro, unless the saddle be very tightlygirthed. It is also placed well forward on the shoulders,so that when the ox backs you feel as if you were goingto slip over his head. However, the bceuf-cheval is acapital beast for a long journey. He is slow, but hardyand patient, goes over rough ground better than ahorse, and will leap well if you give him As for my other beasts of burden, the bearers, theyhad troubled us sadly by the way. I had been obligedto pay them a sum of money in advance, and so longas they remained in m
The African sketch-book . f the creatures skin, therider rocks to and fro, unless the saddle be very tightlygirthed. It is also placed well forward on the shoulders,so that when the ox backs you feel as if you were goingto slip over his head. However, the bceuf-cheval is acapital beast for a long journey. He is slow, but hardyand patient, goes over rough ground better than ahorse, and will leap well if you give him As for my other beasts of burden, the bearers, theyhad troubled us sadly by the way. I had been obligedto pay them a sum of money in advance, and so longas they remained in my debt I dared not offend them,knowing they would run away, if they had only the 1 The Portuguese discoverers found the natives of South Africa ridingupon oxen ; and Kolben tells an extraordinary tale about Hottentot oxenbeing used in war like the dog regiments of the ancient Persians. Beforethe introduction of the camel, pack oxen were employed, according toBarth, for the transport Gf goods and produce across the O Book II] THE RUINS OF THE PORTUGUESE 259 shade of an excuse. So during the first two weeks orso they did precisely as they pleased ; if they came toa wayside tavern, where dried meat and palm wine wereexposed for sale, they stopped without asking mypermission, and enjoyed a feast while I sat broodingin the sun. They were often impertinent, and, in fact,behaved just as schoolboys would behave to the master,if they knew that he could not punish them in any Time the Avenger marched on ; the money Iadvanced was spent, and at length my Swiss broughtme the welcome tidings that I owed them each aboutthree half-pence. There now was no fear of theirdeserting; they would never leave their debtor, butwould cling to him through danger and ill-usage withunchangeable fidelity. We therefore arranged that, assoon as an opportunity occurred, we would pay themout for their previous offences. A keen sense of justicesuggested this proceeding, but I must own that the id
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