140
MEMORIES OF MY LIFE
gpacr! "11)(we the flock 4 the w"'Igmi wa4 tl)f) low o) read or write in with comfort. The small wagon held the clothes of the men in addition to its regular freight, and nobody slept in it except during the heavy rains. At first the natives of my party were constantly changing, and in addition to my own party there were occasional hangers-on.
As regards commissariat, my biscuit and every kind of vegetable food had been eaten up. I had plenty of tea, coffee, and some sugar, and a few trifles besides, but no wine or spirits except for medicine. Our sustenance was henceforth to be the flesh of the oxen and sheep driven with us, eked out by occasional game. The charge of the cattle was our constant anxiety and care; if lost or stolen, we should be starved. The estimate was that one sheep-they were very lean-afforded twenty meals, and I found that men on full work required two meals daily. An ox was reckoned equal to seven sheep, and would therefore feed twenty-four people for three days. The gross total of oxen, cows, and calves in the caravan was ninety-four ; that of sheep was twenty-four. Seventyfive of the oxen were broken in ; nine of these as rideoxen and a few others as pack-oxen, the remainder only for draught. I considered myself to, be provided for ten weeks, exclusive of game, while still preserving a sufficiency of trained oxen.
I had many things for barter, but could not foresee whether, or how far, they would be accepted in exchange for cattle. It afterwards appeared that two sticks of cavendish tobacco was a usual equivalent for one sheep, and a rod of iron or a gun for perhaps eight oxen.
