out, but returned on the 2nd of February without bringing any material contribution to our stores; he had come upon a herd of elephants, but they had startled him so completely by their rush, that he did not recover himself in time to get a shot at them. When it was announced to me that part of Westbeech’s ivory had arrived at Impalera, I was much cheered by the expectation that Westbeech himself would immediately follow. My means of purchasing corn were now so nearly exhausted that I could not help growing more and more anxious.
On the 7th I was equally surprised and distressed by the arrival of a party of about thirty Masupias, who proved to be bailiffs on the hunt for Moia and Kapella. Moia had carried Khame’s letter to Sesheke, where his appearance caused a great sensation, as the return of a condemned fugitive was a thing quite unprecedented. The particulars of what ensued I afterwards learnt from Westbeech, who told me that he had been summoned to the royal enclosure, which he found in great commotion. The king had just received Khame’s letter written in Sechuana, professed himself to be highly gratified by the contents, and had sent for Westbeech to write a reply, in which he gave his assurance that Moia should have a free pardon. But that very night he sent Mashoku a list of twelve names of chiefs who were to be executed forthwith, amongst them Inkambella, Maranzian, Kapella, and Moia.
This was too much even for Mashoku. Alarmed at the prospect of such wholesale slaughter, the executioner immediately let Kapella know what was in store for him, and without the loss of a moment the commander-in-chief aroused his two
