“It was Sunday, and at this moment a white man who works at the mine came up, and I told him the case. He knew the Kafirs, and at once ordered them off, giving one of them a good slap on the side of the head, which upset him. Then they all jumped to their feet and brandished their knob-kerries. I threw off my coat, and my ally and I stood ready and waited for the first blow to be struck, whilst Van Roozen stood afar off. This attitude decided the Kafirs not to risk a fight, and they said they would go with me to Brown and talk the matter over. We went accordingly, and Brown told them if they wanted to do so to take the case before the king, and they soon subsided and slunk away. I might have had the greatest possible annoyance if it had not been for the plucky conduct of Dobie from the mine. “Fairbairn’s waggon was stopped when he came here by some Matabele, and he gave them some goods, but vowed he would complain to the king and get them into trouble. I suppose these three Kafirs thought they too could get something. The king, I believe, would kill them if he knew. There are, of course, no prisons; and when any of his subjects go too far they get put to death, and thrown out to the hyænas. He is an excellent friend to the white men here, and his people live in fear and trembling of their lives. Since I was at the royal residence, I am told he has killed some dozen of the leading men of the country for making suggestions to him. ‘I must show them,’ said he, ‘who is king,’--and he showed them. “Winter has now fairly set in; it is extremely cold at night, and not hot even during the day--at least not hot for Africa. The rivers are dry and the bush withered, and all is yellow and autumnal looking, and will remain so till the rains fall in October, and the fresh vegetation springs up. Then the trees will soon be all green, and many of them blossoming, and there will be many wild flowers. Now things are bleak and barren looking enough. “Before I leave here I shall write a few lines more.... I hope every one is well, and shall live in hope, for what else can I do? I can’t expect to get any more letters till my return from the Zambesi. It may be some little time before you hear from me again, as I don’t know that any waggons will return till November, though there are no end of them gone to the Zambesi. Should any precede me back I can send a letter by them. If, however, you don’t hear, you must take for granted all is going well with me. Humanly speaking, there seems no reason for uneasiness.”