Bremen now came up to them, to say that there was a party of people to the eastward, and he thought that there was a wagon.  On examination with their telescopes, they found that such was the case; and our travelers turned their horses’ heads in the direction, to ascertain who they might be, leaving the caravan to proceed by the banks of the river.  In about an hour, they came close to them, and Swinton immediately recognized them as Griquas, or mixed European and Hottentot races.  Of course, they met in the most friendly manner, and the Griquas said that they had come to hunt the elephant, eland, and other animals; the former for their ivory, and the latter for their flesh.  Their wagon, which was a very old one, was loaded with flesh, cut in long strips, and hanging to dry; and they had a great many hundred-weight of ivory, which they had already collected.  As soon as our travelers had explained to them their own motions, the Griquas said that they would bring their wagon down in the evening and encamp with them.  Our travelers then returned to the caravan.

As they promised, the Griquas joined them late in the afternoon.  They were a party of sixteen; all stout fellows, and armed with the long guns used by the Dutch boors.  They said that they had been two months from Griqua-town, and were thinking of returning very soon, as their wagon was loaded to the extent that it would bear.  The Major stating that it was their intention to hunt the giraffe, the Griquas informed them that they would not find the animal to the southward of the Val River, and they would have to cross over into the territories of the king Moselekatsee, who ruled over the Bechuana country, to the northward of the river; and that it would be very dangerous to attempt so to do without his permission; indeed, that there would be danger in doing so, even with it.

“Do you know any thing of this person, Swinton?”

“Yes, I have heard of him, but I did not know that he had extended his conquests so low down as to the Val River.”

“Who is he?”

“You have heard of Chaka, the king of the Zoolus, who conquered the whole country, as far as Port Natal to the eastward?”

“Yes,” replied Alexander; “we have heard of him.”

“Well, Moselekatsee was a chief of two or three tribes, who, when hard pressed by his enemies, took refuge with Chaka, and became one of his principal warrior chiefs.  After a time he quarreled with Chaka, about the distribution of some cattle they had taken, and aware that he had no mercy to expect from the tyrant, he revolted from him with a large force, and withdrew to the Bechuana country.  There he conquered all the tribes, enrolled them in his own army, and gradually became as formidable as Chaka himself.  In the arrangements of his army, he followed the same plans as Chaka, and has now become a most powerful monarch, and, they do say, is almost as great a tyrant and despot as Chaka himself was.  I believe that the Griquas are right in saying there would be danger in passing through his dominions without his permission.”