THE BECHUANA FAMILY--THEIR DIVISION INTO TRIBES--THEIR PAST AND PRESENT
CONDITION.
That portion of Bechuanaland between the territory belonging to the
chief Montsoia, which is on the north, and Griqualand West, is occupied
by several chiefs belonging to this family. Monkuruan claims to be the
paramount chief over many of them, others claim their independence.
When the British Government annexed the Diamond-Fields, they
acknowledged this chief to be the head of the Bechuanas over all that
country. Previous to that time, Mahura, uncle to Monkuruan, ruled; at
his death his nephew became chief, and lived at his chief town, situated
on one of the spurs of the Campbell Rantz, called Taung, or Toane, a
large Kaffir station, close to a small branch of the Harts river, above
its junction, containing a population, at the time I first visited the
country, under 2000. Monkuruan and his people belong to the Batlapin
tribe of the Bechuana family. He has several large kraals, where his
people live. Another chief, Botlatsitsi, son of the old chief Gasebone,
lives at Phokwane, about eighteen miles from Taung, on the south side of
Harts river. He and his people belong to the same tribe as Monkuruan.
The town, or kraal, is very pleasantly situated amongst the hills, which
are thickly covered with low underwood. The other petty captains,
living within the country first described, are Moshette, of the Baralong
tribe, who, with his people, live about nine miles from Taung, at
Kunanna; the chief Matlabane, of the Bamairi branch of the Batlapiu
tribe, whose kraal is six miles from Taung, on the hills about it.
The chief Matlibe and his people live at Taung, and they are of the
Batlapin tribe also. The petty captain, Jantze, of the Batlapin,
previous to the annexation of the Diamond-Fields, lived at a large
kraal, Lekatlong, on the banks of the Harts river, near its junction
with the Vaal, but afterwards he removed, with his people, to Myneering,
about thirty miles south of Kuruman. Young Gasebone lived at Dekong, on
the same branch as that passing Taung, which I recollect perfectly well,
for he stole out of my waggon thirty pounds of coffee, on my third visit
there, in 1869, and then politely offered to drive my waggon through a
very stony drift on my leaving his station. At Kuruman is Moshette. At
Bakelaris, which is eighteen miles on the north from Kuruman, is the
chief Barhakie, and brother to Moshette. To the north, eighty miles
from Bakelaris, is Morequerne, where there are three petty captains,
Makobie, Makutse, and Marketchwar, an old blind man; his people told me
he was more than 100 years old, but they did not understand age; he died
shortly afterwards.
Eighteen miles to the north-west of Morequerne is Conge, another large
station, which is on the border of the Kalahara desert; and to the west,
and south, towards Kuruman, is the kraal at Mynyam, near Honey Vlei, a
large sheet of water. Cooe station is to the west of the Vlei, but near
it, forty miles south, is Tsinin station; Comopere twelve miles south of
the last, and twelve miles west of Bakclaris. On the east again we come
to several kraals--Matetong, Kopong, and Tokong are the principal.
There are many others of less note, all with their head-men. On the
west of Kurutnan, under the Langberg range of mountains, are Gamapoope,
Molanwan, Kamasap, Puruhulu, Tuten, Lukin, and Zitburn. One of the
chiefs is Tatu. Consequently, all this part of the country is thickly
populated by the Bechuana family, all under petty chiefs and captains.
South of Kuruman is Kobis, Koning, Myneering, and Marseipa, and with
their outlying posts for cattle, sheep, and bucks, make it an important
and valuable region for the British Government to protect and secure
from foreign invasion, as it is contiguous to Griqualand West along the
whole of its northern border. The extent of this portion of
Bechuanaland above-named, south of the chief Montsioa territory, is from
the Transvaal on the east to Langberg on the west--200 miles by nearly
200 north and south, or 40,000 square miles. And when I first knew the
country, twenty years ago, it was nearly unknown to the white man,
except the missionaries, who had their stations at Kuruman, Lekatlong,
Bakclaris, and Matetong, and some half-dozen traders passing through
Kuruman, from Hope Town, in the Cape Colony, to the Bechuana chiefs
living to the north. This little-known region then was one of the most
pleasant and agreeable parts of Africa to visit and explore. The
natives, more particularly at Kuruman and those to the north, were most
friendly and kind. Like all native tribes, they do not forget to beg of
the white man. Down towards the south, in Mahura's time, the people
were troublesome, and much less civil in their behaviour to strangers.
I think I experienced more annoyance because they took me to be a Boer,
noting down all their watering-places, and on one occasion I was in
great danger in consequence. Skins well-brayed was the only material
for their clothes; the men had long cloaks, which, when thrown over the
shoulders, reached the ground. The women had short wrappers round their
loins, hanging down behind and very scanty in front; in cold weather
they also had leather mantles. But at the present time they have to a
great extent adopted the European mode of dress, and deal extensively in
almost every kind of English merchandise.
From cultivating little or no corn, which was the woman's work, they now
go in extensively for ploughs, which the men use, and instead of growing
mealies, which is maize or Indian corn, and a few melons, they now
produce wheat, barley, and oats, which they grow in their beautiful
valleys and sell to traders for English goods, and in addition they
breed herds of cattle, goats and sheep. Many of the men buy the best
English clothing, and some of the women, particularly the young ones,
indulge in cotton prints and even silk for their dresses, and are very
proud if they can obtain stylish boots.
The schools also have greatly improved the people. The advance in
civilisation within the last twenty years has been remarkable. They
are, as a people, timid and for from being fond of war. Their language
is Sechuanse, which is soft and pleasant to the ear. They have natural
mechanical talent, and make good carpenters, smiths, and masons. Their
houses show great ingenuity in their construction, particularly in the
formation and design of their granaries for storing their winter corn,
which are quite artistic in form. Many of these are built up in the
centre of a large hut made of clay, shaped like our water-bottles, in
diameter ten feet in the largest part, gradually reduced in size to
three feet at the top, total height ten feet, which will hold many
hundred bushels of corn. No mice, snakes, or other animal can get in to
destroy the grain. A store is kept separate for each family, quite
distinct from their living huts.
They are very expert in metal, melting the ore for the manufacture of
ornaments, assagais, Kaffir picks, and such things as they require.
They also make very neat mantles, karosses and other kinds of materials
for the women, the men being the tailors and dressmakers for the tribe.
Time being no object, their work is beautifully executed, as may be seen
from the karosses brought to England; many of them sold as high as ten
pounds. They are also very fond of music; they make various kinds of
instruments which produce pleasing sounds. The young men form
themselves into bands to the number of twenty to thirty, called the reed
band--reeds from six to eight feet in length with holes similar to the
flute, but held upright in front of each musician--forming a circle like
our military bands, and perform tunes. The women and children walk
round on the outside singing and clapping hands in time to the music.
This performance generally begins about sundown, and is kept up for
several hours.
The interior of their huts and yards outside where they cook, which are
surrounded by a high fence made of sticks, are kept remarkably clean and
tidy, and their iron utensils also receive their share of attention.
Many of these Bechuanas are rich in cattle, sheep, and goats. They have
their cattle-posts away in the bush, where the stock is looked after,
cows milked, and once or twice a week a pack-ox is loaded up with skins
of milk and taken to the kraal for use. These "vieh-posts" are in
charge of their slaves, called Vaalpans. They are the Bushmen of the
country kept in subjection by the Bechuana tribe, and are a very
harmless and quiet people, the only drawback to their liberty being they
cannot leave their masters' service; otherwise they have full liberty of
action. They are of a darker colour and different in form to the Cape
Bushmen.
The Bechuanas throughout South Central Africa possess waggons, and have
spans of oxen and everything complete like the colonists, and go trading
with English goods amongst their neighbours like any white trader. They
also bring down from their homes, wood, corn, and vegetables for sale to
the Diamond-Fields, and are far more beneficial and useful in the
country than the Boers. They are outstepping them in civilisation, and
if they had white skins, would be looked upon as a superior race. They
have been kept down for want of opportunity to rise above their present
condition. This extensive race, as I have already stated, extends from
the Cape Colony to the Zambese, throughout the whole of Bechuanaland,
and are in habit and customs the same wherever they live, the same
language and its dialects.
The females, like all other nations of the world, have their fashions,
and vary according to the country in which they live. Some of the young
girls shave all the wool from their heads except on the crown, leaving
about three inches in diameter, which they anoint with red clay,
plumbago, and grease, giving a very sparkling and shining appearance to
it that is very becoming, and even makes the young girls look pretty, as
many of them at that age have a pleasing and intellectual expression;
their short kilt is so arranged that the upper and lower borders should
have the white fringe of hair of the springbok skin to look like a
border of deep lace, which against the light rich brown hair of the
other part is very becoming, and sets the figure off to great advantage.
They quite understand being complimented upon their good looks, and can
carry on a flirtation with admirable tact. Where this is more
perceptible, is far away from the demoralising influence of other tribes
who have come in contact with the Boers and other white people. The
more isolated they are from such influence, the more I have always found
them respectful in their manner to strangers. I am referring to the
Bechuana family in general.
The principal roads through this part of the country to the interior
pass through Hope Town in the Cape Colony to Kuruman, the mission
station where the Rev. Robert Moffat spent forty-five years of his life
in missionary labour, which station has been largely increased by the
addition of an extensive college erected of late years at a great
expense for the teaching of native youths for missionary purposes. The
site is admirably situated, having an unlimited supply of the purest
water from a spring some few miles above the station, which issues from
a cave in the side of the hill in a picturesque locality. The mission
houses and church of the London Missionary Society are substantial and
well-built, and have fine gardens well stocked with fruit trees, and the
orange and lemon grow to great perfection. Mr. Chapman, who has a large
store, takes great interest in his garden, and grows every kind of
vegetable known in England. Twenty years ago there were several stores;
three at Upper Kuruman, about a mile from the mission station.
The bold outline of the lofty range of hills at the back of Kuruman,
distant some six miles, adds greatly to the beauty of the adjoining
country, which is undulating and well-wooded, with open plains and
Kaffir gardens, and is one of the most healthy parts of South Central
Africa. The roads from Kuruman branch off in every direction to the
several natives' towns. The main transport road from Kuruman and
Diamond-Fields goes to Maceby Station on the Molapo, in the chief
Montsoia territory, and very pretty roads to travel over. On leaving
the station there are several small kraals on the road to Kopong, which
is a large native town situated on the Matlarin, a tributary of the
Kuruman river, which latter flows past Bakclaris, and then south, past
Comopere, from thence through a wild uninhabited country for 180 miles,
where it joins the Hygap river, which is the lower portion of the
Molapo. The main road continues on from Kopong, through a fine forest
of kameel-doorn trees for many miles, then enters upon open veldt,
passing little and great brack-pans to the Setlakoole and Moretsane
rivers, then bush again to Maceby's station Pitsan; the distance between
Kuruman and that town is 154 miles. Several roads branch off from it to
different parts; one goes to Melemas on the Molapo, another to Marico,
and also others to Monkuruan's at Taungs. Maamuosa, where the Koranna
Captain Moshoen and his people live, a bad and wicked tribe, who have
been helping the Boers lately to make war on Monkuruan, and whose land
the Boers have taken from him. The principal main transport road from
the Cape Colony and Diamond-Fields runs direct to Taungs in a north-east
direction to Maceby's and then north, which has by the late Convention
with the Transvaal been preserved. There are no very lofty hills in
this part of Bechuanaland. The principal ones are those at Kuruman,
those near Taungs and Swaatberg. The average elevation is about 4600
feet above the sea-level. The northern portion is more open, extensive
plains and forests of the mimosa tree; and has many brack-pans, where in
the summer wild geese and ducks come in great numbers.
The game when I first travelled through these parts swarmed on the open
flats. Blesbok and springbok, hartebeest, quaggas, gnus or wildebeest,
the black and the blue; the latter is a much finer animal, the skin is
also of more value. The koodoo is found in the hills. Then there are
several other antelopes, such as the steinbok, found all over Africa.
These at the time I state, if it were possible to count them, would
exceed 100,000 to be seen from the waggon at one time, a complete forest
of horns, and as they feed off the grass until it is too short, they
move away to another district. Of course lions, wolves, and jackals
were very numerous and kept up their howls all night. The wild dog
(Hyena venatica) could be seen in packs of several hundred, crossing the
plains in pursuit of game--they are a pretty animal with large rounded
ears, large bushy tail, whitish face, long black and white hair, tall
and slender. They always hunt in packs. On one of my journeys, having
to cross these plains, I came upon several hundred of them in one of the
slight hollows. On nearing them, for the road ran directly past where
they had been having a grand feast off springbok, as remains of them
were still unconsumed, some of them were lying in the road I was
travelling, and would hardly get out of my way, others stood looking as
we passed between them. Fortunately they had been having their meal,
otherwise I think my span of oxen would have fared badly, for there must
have been over 300. With so many making an attack on a span of oxen,
guns would have been of little use, if they were hungry. I have often
seen forty and fifty in a pack in full cry, after blesbok or springbok,
and a beautiful sight it is. Wolves also were seen, seven and eight
together.
At a small pan on these plains, in a hollow, with high reeds surrounding
it, I, one afternoon, outspanned, intending to remain there the night,
as there was an extensive pan near, with very steep banks down to it,
where I intended, the next day, to look for ancient implements, as I had
previously found some there before. I sent one of my Kaffir boys down
to this pan, only a short distance from the waggon, for water. He was
very quickly back, looking quite scared, and cried out there were wolves
in the pan.
Our rifles were soon out of the waggon, and cartridges for a few shots
if necessary. I started with my Bushman and Hottentot driver, all
armed. As he said, the pan seemed full of them; when within fifty
yards, some of the wolves broke cover and were making for some bushes;
two were shot, others escaped at the sound of our rifles. We could see
them moving about in the long reeds, and fired at every opportunity,
killing in all seven; four of them were the largest I had ever seen;
their heads were immense, and between the ears measured seven inches.
They are large and powerful animals, but great cowards. Lions would be
heard nightly round the waggon, whenever I outspanned in one particular
district near the Moretsane or Setlakoole rivers, which seemed a
favourite resort for them.
All this state of things has passed away. The game has been shot and
driven away more into the desert, wolves nearly all poisoned, and in
crossing any of those extensive plains and open flats, a few hundred may
be counted, where before tens of thousands covered the veldt in all
directions. Then it was a great pleasure to travel through the country
for sport alone, in addition to the enjoyment of passing through a
beautiful country teeming with game. At the present time, to go over
the same ground with not a living thing to be seen, it becomes
monotonous. Close to that pretty isolated hill, Swaatberg, are the
ruins of a very ancient town, Kunam: whether built by Kaffirs or the
race that built the other stone huts, mentioned in a previous chapter,
there is no history to prove. There are many strange tales handed down
to the present generation of its being one large town, the seat of a
powerful chief, and of some great battles having been fought there. The
ruins indicate it to have been at some remote period a large town. Near
it are extensive pans, that at one time must have held water to a great
depth, as the banks and cliffs clearly prove; now only in the summer
months water is found in them. Not far from them there are some
dried-up springs, the water of which was conveyed away by a sluit
passing into the Moretsane.
One day we had fixed our camp at a very pretty spot close to some fine
trees and bush, had made all fast for the night, and were sitting by the
fire before going to bed, the Kaffir boys having their supper, when we
were startled by a rush of large animals passing close to our
camp-fires, on both sides of us. The night being very dark, we could
only distinguish, by the light from our fire, that an immense herd of
blesbok was amongst us. We had our rifles in hand in a moment and fired
into a dense mass of them. When they passed away we found three dead
upon the ground. My Hottentot and boys ran to bring them in, when a
solitary blesbok rushed up to the fire and there stood quite exhausted,
and some thirty yards in the rear were several animals moving about, but
I could not distinguish, from the flickering light, if wolves or wild
dogs, that had chased the poor animal until it could run no more. We
all ran out with our rifles, but with caution, in case any lions might
be amongst them. As they did not go away, evidently exhausted also with
the long chase, we had a good chance of getting some, and succeeded in
killing two. The others in the mean time made off. Lighting the
lantern to bring them in, we found them to be very fine and powerful
wild dogs. By this time the blesbok had recovered from the hard run,
and took himself off. My driver wanted to kill him, but I said, "No; he
sought our protection, and he shall have it." It is wonderful they
should seek man's protection when all other hope of self-preservation
seems gone. I have known small birds fly to my waggon and into it, on
several occasions when pursued by hawks. This is more than instinct;
there is some reasoning power in animals when they seek shelter from
foes where they know they will not follow them. Foxes we know act in
the same manner.
In the morning, on examining the spoor, there must have been many wild
dogs engaged in the chase, but they were stopped at the sight of the two
fires and waggons, and our shots at the blesbok as they passed us. In
the small grove of trees under which our camp was pitched, we founded
several very large chameleons measuring fifteen inches in length. We
discovered them by hearing a noise on one of the branches, caused by a
fight between two of the largest, which we caught, but gave them their
liberty before leaving. I also, during my explorations, made a
collection of many kinds of the mantis family, commonly called in
Africa, Hottentot gods, as they always appear to be praying, having
their two arms held as if in that act; their four legs are used for
locomotion. They feed themselves with their hands. I made a collection
of forty-seven different kinds, those with wings and those wingless,
both kinds having well-developed bodies. Then there is a third kind
without bodies, called walking-sticks, each kind having four legs, two
arms and hands. I made twenty-two collections of the winged; the
largest measured eleven inches in length, brown bodies and lovely purple
wings, two on each side, two horns on the head a little over an inch in
length, large eyes, with a mouth similar to a wasp's, with flat head and
neck four inches in length, from the lower part of which the two arms
spring. The four legs were fixed in the centre of the body; the
smallest size with wings measured one and a half inches in length; each
size differed somewhat in shape. I put one of these, which measured six
inches, green on the back and yellow underneath, with silvery wings,
into a paper-collar box. One afternoon, on looking at it half an hour
afterwards, I found it had woven a nest on to the side, composed of
silky and light-brown material, and the insect appeared quite dead or in
a torpid state. Putting the box away, I forgot to look at it for
several months; when I opened the box I found upwards of 200 young ones,
all dead, each about one-eighth of an inch in length. The greater
portion of my specimens I caught in my waggon at night when my candle
was burning and my fore-sail up, being like the moths attracted by the
light. The wingless ones I found on bushes or in the grass. The third
kind, the walking-stick, I always found in the grass. The first time I
caught one was when I was collecting some beetles. I saw, as I thought,
a piece of live grass moving along. Sitting down on the ground to watch
it, I found it had four legs, which moved very slowly, and two in front
that stuck straight out in line with the body. Carefully observing its
movements, I saw at once it was a very strange kind of insect. Taking a
piece of grass to lift it from the ground, the thing showed fight at
once by raising its head, opening and shutting its mouth, drawing up its
two long arms from the straight position, and striking out at the grass
I held to its head. The colour was exactly that of the long dry grass
in which it was moving--yellow. Length of body and neck, fourteen
inches, and the size of a small straw; the legs were very long--five
inches; the knee-joint half-way up; the arms had two joints--the regular
elbow, and two-thirds of the distance another that doubled up, so that
it could pick the food and carry it to its mouth. These again vary in
size and colour from one inch in length to the size above described.
The female is much larger than the male, which is a light-brown, the
former of a sea-green colour. I think the mantis and the trap-door
spider the most curious of the insect-world in South Africa. Many
specimens of moths I collected in my waggon after dark, some of them
very beautiful; the larger kinds I mostly found in the long grass on the
plains.
Butterflies were very plentiful in some parts, in others rarely any
would be seen; each locality had its peculiar species. The wasps also
amused me when standing in any particular locality for some time; the
large black with purple wings was a constant visitor. When about making
a nest to lay their eggs, they would fly into my waggon, examine every
part minutely, and after fixing upon a particular corner, would fly away
and return with a ball of mud the size of a pea, and commence to plaster
the side of the waggon fixed upon. This would go on for two or three
days, the two wasps, male and female, bringing in these little balls of
mud, going and returning every minute until it was completed, leaving a
little circular hole to each cavity in the clay nest, one-eighth of an
inch in diameter when so completed. They would commence with one of the
holes, there being five; the female would deposit the eggs, then the two
would go out and return with a green caterpillar each, which they would
push into the hole containing the eggs, then leave and return with balls
of clay, and plaster up the hole so cleverly that it would be impossible
to find it from the outside. The same labour was bestowed upon the
other compartment of the nest, and when completed would be left for time
to bring forth the young. Two other kinds of wasps were of quite a
different shape, their slender bodies extended for half an inch, leaving
a large egg-shaped ball at the end. These made exactly the same form of
nest as the one described. A fourth kind, I noticed, would build their
nest in the roofs of buildings; these would be suspended by a thin stem
of a glutinous nature, upon which would be fixed from five to twenty
cells similar to those of the bee. There have been eight and ten of all
these kinds of nests in my waggon at one time, and during the intense
heat of the weather, 106 degrees and sometimes 116 degrees in the shade,
being too hot to move about, I have amused myself in watching the
methodical way in which they so cleverly and beautifully completed their
work, and in so short a time. The bees generally make their nests in
old hollow trees, which we discovered through the honey-bird leading us
to one. When one of these birds wants to attract attention, it soon
makes its presence known, and becomes impatient, if not attended to,
flying round about with its little twitter and call, which is well
known. When it sees you are following it, it flies from branch to
branch in a straight line to the nest; when there, it stops, and you
soon see the nest. The Kaffir will go fearlessly to work, the bees
buzzing about him when taking out the honeycomb, he rarely being stung.
The common black crow, with white about the neck, is also a friendly
bird, of the same size as our English. They generally come and settle
near the outspan, waiting for the camp to break up, then come and look
for what may be left. They talk in their throat as well as caw, and can
be taught like a parrot to speak. I tamed a young one; he would not
sleep in the waggon, but early in the morning he would come and settle
on the front part of the waggon, where he could raise the fore-sail to
look in. On seeing me in bed he would come in, hop up to my face, take
hold of my nose, or have a peck at my beard, look round to examine the
things hanging on the sides, then hop out. On my getting up and leaving
the waggon he would be seen flying from some tree, and come and settle
on my hat or shoulder; if the latter, he would put his head round and
rub his beak against my face.
There are other crows quite black, more like ravens, but not so large.
Another time I was staying at a Boer farm for three weeks to have my
waggon repaired; in the early day I walked over to a Boer farm, about a
mile from my outspan, to examine some quartz reefs, where I found a few
specks of gold on a former journey. At this farm there was a beautiful
crane, belonging to old John Nell, the farmer. I tried to make friends
by making the same kind of sounds that he kept repeating, but he took no
apparent notice. On leaving to walk back to the waggon with my rifle,
this crane followed me all the way, keeping about three yards behind,
where he remained by my camp a short time, then flew home. Every day
after he paid me a visit. One afternoon I took my rifle for a ramble
round in the thick bush veldt to look for a waterbok. When about a mile
from my waggon I heard a great rush. Looking round I found it was my
friend the crane. He settled down in front, then came and walked on my
left side, just beyond my reach, keeping close for some distance, then
on a sudden he took flight and rose in the air, making long circular
sweeps, until he passed behind some small clouds and became again
visible, until he was lost in the distance. Thinking no more of him, I
continued my walk for half an hour, and was returning home, when the
same kind of rush was heard, and looking up I saw him pass close to me,
and settle on the ground about thirty yards in front; he then took his
place by my side as before, and accompanied me home, and then flew back
to the farm. I mention these incidents to show there is something more
than instinct in all living things.
The country round this part of Monkuruan territory, and in fact all
Africa, swarms with every kind of ant, from the smallest size up to
three-quarters of an inch in length, each kind having their own peculiar
form of nest, more particularly the destructive white ant, which causes
so much damage to buildings and furniture; the construction of their
nests differs in different latitudes. In the Cape Colony, Natal, Orange
Free State, and lower part of the Transvaal, the veldt is covered with
these hills, in the shape of a ball cut in halves and placed on the
ground; the average size is four feet in diameter by two feet in height;
many of them have been scooped out by ant-bears.
The Dutch women, in travelling, frequently make use of these holes, by
turning them into ovens to bake their bread for the road. More to the
north, instead of being round, they form a kind of peak, with holes on
the topmost points, some exceeding in height twenty feet. North of this
again the ground is raised some two feet by ten to fifteen in diameter.
On the centre part chimneys are built up, many exceeding four feet in
height, by nearly three feet in circumference; the opening is nearly a
foot in diameter, the top terminating in a cup-like form, in three
distinct layers, one above the other, forming quite an ornamental
termination to the chimney beautifully constructed. On looking down,
hundreds of these tiny masons may be seen plastering and repairing the
inside coating, which may have received damage from rain. There is
always one large chimney, and sometimes one or two smaller ones close to
it, and at the base some twenty or thirty small ones, three inches to a
foot in height, and three and four inches in diameter, and many small
holes round about, where the ants are busy taking in their food, small
pieces of dried grass, and other things, never making use of the
chimneys as a means for supplying their cells with food. They are, I
believe, erected as ventilators to give air below, as the cavity beneath
must be as large as a small room, and in some eases larger, as a waggon
fell into one. A road had been made near Molapo, over one of these
disused nests, and in 1877 a Boer waggon was travelling in the night, as
is their usual practice. The front oxen had gone over it, the ground
gave way with the after oxen, but they managed to get on firm ground;
the weight of the waggon broke the top surface, and only the desselboom
on the opposite side getting fixed, kept the two fore-wheels and waggon
suspended over the hole, a Boer woman and three children narrowly
escaping from falling into the pit. I followed up the next morning,
when the Boer and others were getting the waggon mended; bushes were
then put round the hole and the road turned. If I had passed over this
road before that waggon I should have met the same fate. As a whole,
the roads in all parts of Monkuruan territory, and in fact throughout
South Central Africa, are very good, considering they are never
repaired; many of them rough and stony, but as they are mere natural
tracks made by waggons, it is surprising they are in such good
condition.
The population of this district, including all the various tribes, does
not exceed 20,000, exclusive of Bushmen, and they do not number more
than 3000.