matters to strangers? When interrogating our guide on the subject of religion, he would abruptly stop us with a "Hush!" Does not this ejaculation express awe and reverence, and a deep sense of his own utter insufficiency to enter on so solemn a theme? The Ovambo always evinced much uneasiness whenever, in alluding to the state of man after death, we mentioned Nangoro. "If you speak in that manner," they said in a whisper," and it should come to the hearing of the king, he will think that you may want to kill him." They, moreover, hinted that similar questions might materially hurt our interest, which was too direct a hint to be misunderstood. To speak of the death of a king or chief, or merely to allude to the heir-apparent, many savage nations consider equivalent to high treason.

As already said, the Ovambo surround their dwellings with high palisades, consisting of stout poles about eight or nine feet in height, fixed firmly in the ground, at short intervals from each other. The interior arrangements of these inclosures were most intricate. They comprised the dwelling-houses of masters and attendants, open spaces devoted to amusement and consultation, granaries, pig-sties, roosting-places for fowls, the cattle-kraal, and so forth.

Their houses are of a circular form. The lower part consists of slender poles, about two feet six inches high, driven into the

156

DOMESTIC ANIMALS-HUSBANDRY.

ground, and further secured by means of cord, etc., the whole being plastered over with clay. The roof, which is formed of rushes, is not unlike that of a bee-hive. The height of the whole house, from the ground to the top of the "hive," does not much exceed four feet, while in circumference it is about sixteen.

They store the grain in gigantic baskets, generally manufactured from palm-leaves, plastered with clay, and covered with nearly the same material and in the same manner as the dwelling-houses. They are, moreover, of every dimension; and by means of a frame-work of wood, are raised about a foot from the ground. The domestic animals of the Ovambo are the ox, the sheep, the goat, the pig, the dog, and the barn-door fowl. The latter was of a small breed, a kind of bantam, very handsome, and, if properly fed and housed, the hens would lay eggs daily.

The wet season in these latitudes commences about the same period as in Damara-land, that is in October and November. When the first heavy rains are over, the Ovambo begin to sow

1 The above wood-cut is a view of the country near Nangoro's residence. The huts seen in the distance are those of bushmen. A great number of these people dwell amongst the Ovambo, to whom they stand in a kind of vassalage and relationship.

HUSBANDRY-ARTICLES

OF BARTER.

157

grain, etc.; but they plant tobacco in the dry time of the year. Both sexes assist in tilling the ground, which, near the surface, consists of a flinty sand-soil. A short distance beneath, blue clay appears. The land must be rich and fertile, as manure is seldom made use of. The only farm-implement we saw in use amongst the Ovambo was a kind of hoe, of very rude workmanship. Instead of cultivating a whole piece of ground, as with us, they simply dig a hole here and there, in which they deposit a handful of corn. When a little above ground, those seedlings which are too thick, are transplanted. The process of reaping, cleaning, and grinding, falls almost exclusively on the women. The grain is reduced to flour by means of a stout pole in a kind of mortar, or hollow wooden tube. Whilst the females are thus employed, some of the men attend to the herding of the cattle, and the rest make trading excursions to the neighboring tribes. The chief article of export is ivory, which they procure from elephants caught in pitfalls. In exchange for this, they obtain beads, iron, copper, shells, cowries, etc.; and such articles as they do not consume themselves they sell to the Damaras. As far as we could learn, they make four expeditions annually into Damara-land; two by the way of Okamabuti, and two by that of Omaruru. The return for these several journeys, on an average, would seem to be about eight hundred head of cattle. Since we were in the country, however, it is probable that great changes may have taken place.

158

ARTICLES OF

BARTER-METALLURGY.

Next to their cattle, they prize beads; but, though they never refuse whatever is offered to them, there are some sorts that they more especially value, and it is of very great importance to the traveler and trader to be aware of this, as, in reality, beads constitute his only money, or means of exchange. Thus, throughout Ondonga, large red (oval or cylindrically-shaped), large bluish white, small dark indigo, small black (spotted with red), and red, in general, are more particularly in request.

The Ovambo have some slight knowledge of metallurgy. Though no mineral is indigenous to their own country, they procure copper and iron ore in abundance from their neighbors, which they smelt in fireproof crucibles. The bellows employed in heating the iron are very indifferent, and stones serve as substitutes for hammer and anvil. Yet, rude as these implements are, they manage not only to manufacture their own ornaments and farming tools, but almost all the iron-ware used in barter.

CHAPTER XVII.

THE RIVER CUNENÈ-THE TRAVELERS ARE PRISONERS AT LARGE-KINGLY REVENGE KINGLY LIBERALITY-DEPART FROM ONDONGA

-

SUFFERINGS

AND CONSEQUENCES RESULTING FROM COLD-RETURN TO OKAMABUTI— DAMARA WOMEN MURDERED BY BUSHMEN-PREPARATIONS FOR JOURNEYOBTAIN GUIDES — DEPART FROM TJOPOPA'S WERFT-GAME ABUNDANTAUTHOR AND THREE LIONS STALK ANTELOPES IN COMPANY-EXTRAORDINARY VISITATION THE RHINOCEROS'S GUARDIAN ANGEL THE TEXTOR ERYTHRORHYNCHUS—THE AMADINA SQUAMIFRONS; SINGULAR CONSTRUCTION OF ITS NEST-RETURN TO BARMEN.

MANY years previously to our visit to the Ovambo, a French frigate discovered the embouchure of a magnificent river, known as Cunene, between the seventeenth and eighteenth degrees of south latitude. Other vessels were sent out to explore it, and to ascertain its course, etc., but, strange to say, they searched for it in vain!1

The discoverers could not, however, have been mistaken; and as we now approached the latitudes in question, we made inquiries, and soon found that only four days' travel north of Ondonga there existed a river of great size, which, we doubted not, was identical with Cunenè; and further inquiry fully corroborated this supposition. A run-away slave from Benguela, who was living at the time among the Ovambo, informed us that in its upper course (or rather another branch) this river is called Mukuru Mukovanja, but that in its lower course it is designated Cunenè. Moreover, that though of very considerable size, and containing

1 Captain Messum, master of a merchant vessel, subsequently informed me that he has seen it.