Damara Helpmates.—Marriage Tie.—Caravan to Ovampo-land.—Yearly
Traffic.—Otchikoto.—Improvised Chaunts.—Reach an Ovampo
Cattle-post.—Archery Practice.—The Parent Tree.—We reach
Ondonga.—Corn, Beans, and Palms.—Fruit-trees.—Native
Beer.—Density of the Population.—Encamp by Nangoro’s
Village.—Cannot obtain Pasturage.—Nangoro pays us a
Visit.—Ovampo Belles.—We go to a Ball.—Description of
Dances.—Charms and Counter-charms.—Nangoro’s Palace.—The
Great River.—Prospects.—The King is crowned.—His lawful
Successors.—The Queens’ Duties.—Ovampo Dentists.—Surgical
Practice.
_May 22nd._—The Ovampo and ourselves were all in readiness, and we
travelled for a couple of hours to a place of general rendezvous. I was
very curious to see what our caravans would consist of, as it would give
an accurate idea of the amount of trade and communication that goes on
northwards from Damara-land. There are four of these caravans yearly,—two
to Chapupa’s werft, and two that travel between those Ovampo and Damaras
that severally live near the sea. Kahikenè had told me of these last; and
I have since heard much fuller particulars about them.
We had fifteen ride and pack-oxen, eight slaughter; two cows, one calf,
thirty sheep, and three goats. Goats are very useful to furnish leather,
in case anything should be torn, or bags have to be made; they do not,
however, travel quite so well as sheep.
We encamped as usual at night, letting the oxen graze about us, not
dreaming of any accident, when a Damara, who was going through the trees,
luckily came upon a lion, who was crouching at one of my ride-oxen,
almost within springing distance. The lion, of course, decamped, as
lions always do when they are discovered at their wicked practices;
and we had the satisfaction of hearing him roar hungrily throughout
the night. The cry of a lion as he walks about, when he is baulked of
sport, is plaintive, and not unmusical; but I never hear them utter it in
the menageries in England. It was quite a new sound to me when I first
listened to it; and I should never then have guessed it had come from
a lion unless I had been told so. Another very peculiar cry is that of
the zebra; at a distance it sounds more like the roo-coo-cooing of a
dove than anything else. We cut bushes and kraaled in the oxen during
the dark; and as I had now only a small drove with me, and plenty of
Damaras, I came to a resolution to make a kraal every night for the
oxen, and so relieve myself of all anxiety about them. I had found it
such a luxury both at Schmelen’s Hope and Okamabuti, to have kraals
to drive the cattle safe into at night-fall, for, dismissing from our
minds all care about them, we could then sleep undisturbed throughout
the night. The men of my party were, besides myself and Andersson, John
Allen, John St. Helena, and Timboo. I had five picked Damaras with four
wives. The women are very useful, for they carry the men’s things,
and make their huts, and cook for them, leaving the men unhampered and
disengaged, ready to run and drive the oxen, and do anything that might
be wanted. Damara women have not much to complain of: they are valuable
helpmates; and divorce themselves as often as they like. The consequence
is that the marital rule depends not upon violence nor upon interest, but
upon affection. A wife costs a Damara nothing, for she “crows” her own
pig-nuts, and she is of positive use, because she builds and plasters
his hut, cooks his victuals, and carries his things when he moves from
place to place. A Damara seldom beats his wife much; if he does, she
decamps. This deference of husband to wife was a great difficulty in the
way of discipline; for I often wanted to punish the ladies of my party,
and yet I could not make their husbands whip them for me, and of course
I was far too gallant to have it done by any other hands. They bored me
to death with their everlasting talking; but I must own that there were
many good points in their character. They were extremely patient, though
not feminine, according to our ideas: they had no strong affections
either for spouse or children; in fact, the spouse was changed almost
weekly, and I seldom knew, without inquiry, who the _pro tempore_ husband
of each lady was at any particular time. One great use of women in my
party was to find out any plan or secret that the natives I was encamped
amongst were desirous of hiding. Experience tells us of two facts: first,
that women delight in communicating everybody else’s secrets to each
other; secondly, that husbands and wives mutually tell one another all
they know. Hence the married women of my party, whenever I staid near
a werft, had very soon made out all the secrets of the inhabitants,
which they retailed directly to their husbands, and they to me. It was
a system of espionage which proved most effectual. A difficulty arising
from women’s gossipings had occurred at Okamabuti, in which Chik behaved
very well. My man Kambanya told his wife, who told other wives, who told
their husbands, that the Ovampo intended to rob and murder me as soon
as I arrived in their country. The story, by passing through so many
hands, had acquired several circumstantial details, quite enough to make
it worth inquiring into; so I, not knowing the origin of the tale, had
Chik up in judgment before me, and taxed him with what I had heard. He
protested his innocence; and then I said that to clear himself he must
investigate the report, which he did in a most masterly manner; and
traced the whole affair down to the unhappy Kambanya, who had fabricated
the story to dissuade me from going, and from taking him to Ovampo-land,
so Kambanya was whipped, and my friendship with Chik cemented all the
stronger.
_May 23rd._—We rode on six hours, to the second place of rendezvous,
Ootui, and there found all the Ovampo at their encampment, and parties
of Damaras under every bush; and as we travelled on next day, I counted
in our caravan 86 Damara women, nearly half of whom had yelling babies
on their backs, and 10 Damara men. Our party consisted of 14, and the
Ovampo of 24; making about 170 souls in all; 206 head of horned cattle
were driven along, independently of my own, and were the result of Ovampo
barter; and of these three-fourths were cows or heifers.
The 86 women went on various speculations,—some to get work in
Ovampo-land, some to try and get husbands, others merely to sell their
ostrich-shell corsets. Chik thought the caravan a little above the
average; therefore, as there are altogether four caravans, we may
consider 800 oxen as the annual export of Damara-land to the north; in
exchange for which at least half of the Damaras are kept supplied with
weapons and ornaments, the other half deriving theirs from the Namaquas
and the missionaries to the south. The Damaras have no communication
whatever with any other country, a broad land dividing them from the
natives to the east, and the sandy tract by the sea-shore bounding them
to the west.
_May 24th._—Arrived at Otchikango, the baboon-fountain, passing a very
curious circular hole in the middle of a chalky patch of ground; it was
exactly like a bucket, ninety feet across, and thirty feet deep: its name
was Orujo: the sides were perpendicular, the bottom flat; and in the
middle was a small well, down to which a person could easily scramble.
All the ground about is limestone; and wherever there is a bare patch
of it, numbers of circular holes, like miniature Orujos, are to be
seen: generally they are about the size that would just admit a round
lucifer-box; some a few sizes larger; several about a foot across; and in
these trees are often growing just as they would in a flower-pot: those
that are open make dangerous pitfalls. The effect is very curious. Mr.
Oswell tells me that by Lake ’Ngami he has met with the same things.
_May 25th._—For the third time we left Otchikango, and travelled all day,
till four P.M., passing over some very rugged ground and dense thorns,
such as no waggon could get across: it was a pass over a low chain of
hills. The encampments at night were very pretty. There were fires in all
directions. Everybody was in the best of spirits. The Ovampo sang their
manly chorusses with charming effect. We had no water, but were to reach
a wonderful place, Otchikoto, on the morrow, at eleven,—which we did.
_May 26th._—Without the least warning we came suddenly upon that
remarkable tarn, Otchikoto. It is a deep bucket-shaped hole, exactly like
Orujo, but far larger, for it is 400 feet across: deep down below us lay
a placid sheet of water, which I plumbed, leaning over from the cliff
above, to the enormous depth of 180 feet, the same depth within five or
six feet at four different points of its circumference. The water could
be reached by a couple of broken foot-paths, to the top of one of which
the oxen were driven to drink out of a trough, and a line of men handed
up bambooses of water from one to another to fill it. There were small
fish in the water; it is curious how they got there. I was told that
fish were also to be found in the fountain-head of Otjironjuba, but I
did not see them. There were infinite superstitions about Otchikoto, the
chief of which was, that no living thing which ever got into it could
come out again. However, John Allen, Andersson, and myself, dispelled
that illusion from the savage mind, by stripping and swimming all about
it, under the astonished gaze not only of the whole caravan, but also of
quantities of Bushmen who lived about the place, and who came to greet
the Ovampo, with whom they are on the best of terms.
Although the Ovampo live on the borders of a great river, yet none had
ever been seen swimming. It appeared that alligators were so numerous in
its waters that the natives feared to venture in. Chik had been extremely
friendly up to the present time, but he now began to look with some
suspicion upon us; the fact of our having swum about Otchikoto alarmed
him—it looked like magic. Again my Damaras were always teasing the others
by saying that we were cleverer than the Ovampo—a fact which these would
not admit; but now it was proved beyond doubt, and the whole eighty-six
females sang songs about us; one matron improvised, and all the others
joined in a shrill chorus, like “tirri-tirri-tirri.” The self-esteem of
the Ovampo had certainly been wounded. Chik at first ridiculed guns. He
had seen guns in Benguela, but they must have been worthless affairs, and
badly handled, for he laughed at any comparison between them and arrows;
however, by degrees he became frightened at seeing what they really could
do. There was a duck swimming about the water, not more than sixty yards
off, but it looked very much further, as things below one always do, and
I shot him very neatly with my little rifle: and again, the next day,
Andersson was shooting some birds on the wing for specimens, and Chik
became so frightened that he would not pick them up. We had great fun at
Otchikoto; there was a cave there full of bats and owls, which we swam
to and explored. The place swarmed with doves, and every now and then a
white hawk swooped in amongst them. The Bushman captain fraternised with
me, and we interchanged smiles and small presents.
_May 27th._—We travelled through the everlasting thorns and stones for
nine hours, and off-packed at wells—wretched affairs, that we had to sit
up half the night to clean and dig out.
_May 29th._—We came on ox spoors. Old Netjo, who is a family man, was
beside himself with joy, and kept by my side pointing out all the
indications of the neighbouring Ovampo. Passing a reedy, boggy fountain,
we came an hour after to Omutchamatunda, which then was thronged with the
Ovampo and their cattle. We were received very hospitably, and had a tree
assigned us to camp under. The Ovampo gave us butter to grease ourselves
with; but as it was clean, and as they also brought corn, I preferred
eating it. There was a little game about, and we had some shooting, and
also a bathe and a battue of ducks and partridges. No corn was grown
here, neither were there any women; it was simply a cattle-post, and far
from the corn country of the Ovampo.
_May 30th._—We passed the grave of the god, Omakuru; the Damaras all
threw stones on the cairn that covered it, singing out Tati-kuru!
Tati-kuru! (Father Omakuru). Came to Etosha, a great salt-pan. It is
very remarkable in many ways. The borders are defined and wooded; its
surface is flat and effloresced, and the mirage excessive over it; it
was about nine miles in breadth, but the mirage prevented my guessing at
its length; it certainly exceeded fifteen miles. Chik said it was quite
impassable after the rainy season; and it must form a rather pretty lake
at that time. We arrived late in the evening at another werft, on the
south border of the grand flat, Otchihako-wa-Motenya, which appears to
extend as a grassy treeless estuary between wooded banks the whole way
hence to near the sea. The Ovampo here could not believe that I was able
to express sounds by writing on paper, so I jotted down the names of a
number of people, one after the other, and then read them out. I may
as well give a few of them, as a guide to the rhythm of the language:
Kangŭrà, Entongò, Epingà, Angèrò, Andāhè, Akoosà. I planned a shooting
match; there were a great many naturalised Bushmen on the spot, and
as all the Ovampo carry bows, I had a large archery meeting. I put up
a sheep-skin (which gives a target of about three feet by two), and
placed the men eighty paces from it. The prize was tobacco; there were
twenty competitors, and each shot six arrows, so that 120 shots were
made; but out of these 120 only _one_ hit the target fairly, and another
brushed it. At very near distances, as from five to ten yards, the men
shot perfectly. I have frequently given prizes to Damaras, Bushmen, and
Ovampo, to shoot for, but I have only seen wretched archery practice,
far worse than that of our societies in England. I suppose I have been
unfortunate; but though I have taken some trouble to see good practice,
not only with bows and arrows, but also with rifles, I have never
witnessed performances that approached to the accuracy which shooters
often profess to attain, although I certainly have seen lucky shots made,
and indeed have made them myself. Andersson made a beautiful one at an
ostrich in Damara-land. The bird was standing 280 yards from him, in a
thick but rather low cover, which concealed its body, while its neck
stood high, in bold relief. Andersson stalked up to within that distance,
but as the creature was alarmed, and the ground immediately in front was
exposed, he could not get nearer. He aimed, of course, high up the neck,
intending to hit the body, but the elevation was a little too great, yet
the aim proved so perfect, that he shot him dead through the neck.
Katondoka was sent on to tell Nangoro the news of the approach of the
caravan, and to carry a message from me to him; and now came our hardest
stage of all. It was nineteen hours’ actual travel, and told cruelly on
the oxen; for they were weak, and had been badly off for grass on the
road. We crossed the flat in four hours, keeping close by its easternmost
margin; to the west it widened out, and stretched to the far horizon.
Four hours from the north border of the flat we passed a magnificent
tree. It was the parent of all the Damaras. The caravan stopped awhile,
and the savages danced round and round it in great delight. We slept
without water. In the morning we had some delays with the oxen, but
travelled from early day-break, passing an empty well at eleven, and
another a little later. We pushed through thick thorns the whole time,
and had begun to disbelieve in Ondonga, when quite of a sudden the
bushes ceased: we emerged out of them, and the charming corn country of
the Ovampo lay yellow and broad as a sea before us. Fine dense timber
trees, and innumerable palms of all sizes, were scattered over it;
part was bare for pasturage, part was thickly covered with high corn
stubble; palisadings, each of which enclosed a homestead, were scattered
everywhere over the country. The general appearance was that of most
abundant fertility. It was a land of Goshen to us; and even my phlegmatic
waggon-driver burst out into exclamations of delight. Old Netjo’s house
was the nearest, and he therefore claimed the right of entertaining me
the first, and to it we went. He had two or three wives, and a most
wonderfully large family, to every member of which he presented us. Then
he took Andersson and myself over the establishment, and showed us his
neat granaries and thrashing-floors, and his cocks and hens: the pigs,
he regretted, had been sent out of the way; and lastly, Mrs. Netjo, No.
1, produced a dish of hot dough and a basin of sour milk, on which we
set to work, burning our fingers as we pulled off large bits, which we
dipped into the milk and swallowed. Then we went on to Chik’s house,
who encamped us under a magnificent tree, and took our cattle under his
charge. He told me that we were still a long day’s journey from Nangoro,
and that the whole of our way there would lie through a corn country like
this.
The harvest was now over; but the high stubble was still standing, and
in it the oxen were allowed to feed. There was at this time hardly any
other pasturage for them. The Ovampo have two kinds of corn; one is the
Egyptian doura (or exactly like it), a sort of hominy; and the other
is a corn that was new to me, but kindred, as I am told, to the Indian
“badjera:” its head is cylindrical, and full of small gray seeds, which,
though not larger than those of millet, are so numerous that each head
contains a vast deal of nutriment. Both kinds of corn grow to much the
same height, about eight feet; and in harvesting the reapers bend down
the stalks and only cut off the heads. As we journeyed on the next day
our surprise at the agricultural opulence of the country was in no way
decreased. Chik told us a great deal about the tenure of the farms, and
the way they dig them. Each farmer has to pay a certain proportion of
the tobacco that he grows to Nangoro (tobacco is the chief circulating
medium in Ovampo-land); but the corn can be planted without any drawback
upon it. The fields are hoed over before each sowing season, and the corn
planted. The manure from the cattle kraal is spread over the ground.
They plant beans and peas, but adopt no systematic rotation of crops.
The palms that grew here were of the same sort as those that I saw near
Omanbondè; but the fruit of these was excellent, exactly like those of
the Egyptian doum, while that of the others was bitter. The other trees
that I observed were fruit trees: they were sparingly scattered over the
country; but nearly all that I saw were of magnificent size, as large
as those in any English park; their foliage was so dense and green that
a real shade from the sun could be obtained, which never is the case in
Damara-land, as the straggling stunted thorn, with its few shrivelled
leaves, offers little more of a screen to its rays than an English tree
in winter time. The fruits are of two kinds, one, which I never saw
myself as it was not the season for it, was a kind of cherry, according
to Timboo’s authority, who recognised at once all the produce of his own
country (Masapa, by Moviza) here in Ovampo-land. The other is a very acid
fruit, not unlike an apple in shape, colour, smell, and size, but with a
stone in it. No other tree stands in the corn country of the Ovampo, or
at least gives any feature to the landscape.
Ondonga, for that is the name of the land, is most uniform in its
appearance; and I should think no stranger could recollect his way
for any distance in it. I don’t know what we should have done here,
if I had brought my waggons. We could never have taken them across
the Ovampo fields, trespassing everywhere. The roads that the natives
and we travelled were only pathways through the stubble; and we were
particularly requested to keep to them. There was hardly any grass
whatever, it was perfectly eaten up; and the Ovampo oxen had been sent
away to distant cattle-posts on every side to get food. They were now
being driven back in small herds to eat off the stubble upon the farms of
their owners. By each homestead were five or six cows and a quantity of
goats, very small, but yielding a great deal of milk. To give water even
to these was a great difficulty, for the wells have to be dug twenty or
thirty feet deep through the sandy soil before water is reached; and then
it oozes out so slowly that only a very limited supply can be obtained.
There had been great trouble in getting even my small drove of cattle
watered; but Chik said that there were some vleys still left, which were
Nangoro’s property; but to which he would probably allow my oxen to be
driven. The Ovampo make a great fuss about water; if I wanted any to
drink I had to buy it with beads. I was greatly pleased with the mutual
good-will and cordiality that evidently existed among the Ovampo; they
were all plump and well fed; even the blind old people, who are such
wretched objects in Damara-land, were here well tended and fat. They
looked shy at me; but Chik had been impressing upon me during the whole
of our journey that his countrymen would all keep away until Nangoro had
seen and approved of me, then they would come from all sides, and be as
civil as possible. Chik introduced me to some of his most particular
friends, who were very hospitable indeed, stopping us on the road, and
giving us beer and biscuits, and such-like luxuries. The beer is not to
be despised, although it is very thin and sweet; it is made from crushed
corn and water, and takes two or three days before it is quite ready. I
should think that a person must drink immense quantities before he could
become intoxicated with it, but two or three tumblers full make one
sleepy.
We travelled short stages, sleeping one night at the house of one of
Chik’s friends who kraaled our oxen in. I was much afraid of their
straying in the night, as if they did so they might cause all sorts of
damage. I felt ill at ease in Ovampo-land, because I was no longer my own
master. Everybody was perfectly civil, but I could not go as I liked, nor
where I liked; in fact I felt as a savage would feel in England. My red
coat was the delight of all the little boys and girls, plump merry little
things, who ran after me shouting and singing as happy as could be. The
Ovampo took much interest in seeing the oxen packed and ridden; they
had never seen them used in that way before, and carefully examined the
saddle-bags, and the way they were put on.
To gain some idea of the amount of the Ovampo population I counted the
number of homesteads that I passed, and found that I saw, on an average,
thirty in each hour’s ride, about three miles. From the undulating nature
of the country, and from the number of palms, I considered that I could
only see a mile and a half on either side of me, and therefore these
thirty farms would take up a square of three miles in the side, or nine
square miles; that is, in round numbers, three farms would occupy a
square mile; allowing from thirty to forty souls in each farm, it gives
a population of a hundred persons to a square mile. There is no town
whatever in Ondonga, for the population is entirely rural.
Travelling on we passed a few Damaras who had lately arrived, from
Omaruru to make amends to Nangoro for some thefts which the natives on
that side of the country had been committing against the Ovampo. A little
further we met four Ovapangari who had come south from the great river;
they were frightened and suspicious, and Chik would not interpret for me
to them.
At last a particularly fine clump of trees came in sight, and there Chik
said we were ordered to stay, Nangoro’s palisading being only a quarter
of a mile further. Here we off-packed, and made a kind of encampment. I
pitched my tent, and we made as good a screen as we were able with the
saddle-bags, and a few palm branches, but we had hardly any firewood,
grass, or water. After a great deal of trouble I made Chik obtain for us
the use of some wells close by, but we had to wait half the day till they
were disengaged. Then I could find no place to send my oxen to feed. No
kind offer was made of a stubble field, and Chik would not bestir himself
much. He was always saying, “You must wait; Nangoro will come down and
see you to-morrow, and then he will arrange everything;” but in the
meantime my oxen were starving. The Ovampo kept away from us, and Chik
was almost the only person that we were allowed to communicate with. We
all felt uncomfortable, I never for a moment expected any attack from the
Ovampo, but I had considerable misgivings that they purposely intended to
keep my oxen in low condition that I might be less independent.
[Illustration: CAMP IN OVAMPO-LAND.
John Murray, Albemarle Street, 1853]
Ondonga is a very difficult place to get away from. Indeed if anything
had occurred to make it advisable for me to force a quick retreat
I hardly know how I should have done it. It would have been very
questionable if we could have found our way back by Netjo’s house; for,
as I mentioned before, the country is remarkably uniform, intersected
with paths, and quite destitute of natural features to guide us. It is
also slightly undulating, enough so to limit the view to a mile or two
ahead. There was vley water, if we did not miss it, near to Netjo’s;
and thence there remained a journey of twenty-one hours, two hours in
Ondonga, and nineteen in the thorns and flats, without water; and as part
of this lay over a bleak country the stage was too severe a one for any
weak ox to endure. I found that some Ovampos had been tampering with my
Damara cattle-watchers; one, a man whom I had taken from Chapupa’s werft,
became impudent, and instead of driving my cattle to grass, kept them on
a bare place for half the day; so I took active measures upon his back
and shoulders, to an extent that astonished the Ovampo and reformed the
man.
_June 6th._—Nangoro did not come, but sent us a little corn as a present,
and requested us to fire off our guns, as he wished to hear what kind
of noise they made. We had plenty of ammunition, and therefore amused
ourselves with some rifle practice, which several Ovampo watched from a
short distance with great interest.
_June 7th._—The oxen looked dreadfully thin. I began to fear that they
would die, and then we should have to abandon our luggage and get back
on foot—an exertion which I had little fancy for. However about midday
Chik came in great excitement to tell me that Nangoro was on his way
to me, so I smartened things and made ready for him. There was a body
of men walking towards us, and in the middle of them an amazingly fat
old fellow laboured along; he was very short of breath, and had hardly
anything on his person. This was the king himself. He waddled up looking
very severe, and stood in the middle of his men staring at us, and
leaning on a thin stick very neatly shaped, that he seemed to carry about
as a sceptre. I hardly knew what to do or what to say, for he took no
notice of an elegant bow that I made to him, so I sat down and continued
writing my journal till the royal mind was satisfied. After five or six
minutes Nangoro walked up, gave a grunt of approbation, and poked his
sceptre into my ribs in a friendly sort of manner, and then sat down.
He could, I believe, understand Damara well enough, but he persisted in
making Chik interpret for me into Ovampo. Nangoro had quite a miniature
court about him; three particularly insinuating and well-dressed Ovampo
were his attendants in waiting; they were always at his elbow and laughed
immoderately whenever he said anything funny, and looked grave and
respectful whenever he uttered anything wise, all in the easiest and most
natural manner. I gave Nangoro the things that I had brought as a present
for him, regretting excessively that I could spare him nothing better.
In fact all my gilt finery was but little cared for by these people. It
would look as _outré_ for an Ovampo to wear any peculiar ornament as it
would for an Englishman to do so. The sway of fashion is quite as strong
among the negroes as among the whites; and my position was that of a
traveller in Europe, who had nothing to pay his hotel bill with but a
box full of cowries and Damara sandals. I would have given anything for
ten pounds’ worth of the right sort of beads; half of that value would
have made a really good present to Nangoro, and franked me into the
good graces of all his people. As it was he was rather sulky, for it is
considered a kind of insult to an African chief to visit him, and make
use of his country without commencing acquaintance by sending a tribute.
He insisted upon my giving him a cow which I, or rather John Allen, had
with me, besides the ox I had presented him with; and as there was no
help for it, the cow went. We then had a short conversation; he looked
at our guns and made us shoot with them, chatted a little, and then left
us, saying that we were free to buy and sell with his people as much as
we liked. Immediately crowds of the Ovampo, who had been gathering during
the interview, poured down upon us, laughing and talking, but taking
the greatest care not to touch our things, or to annoy us in any way.
They were a merry set, and all of them dressed, or rather ornamented,
very tidily. They wore a great quantity of beads and rings, but scarcely
anything else except a kind of cartouche box, in which they kept a tuft
of hair for painting and powdering themselves. The ladies were buxom
lasses, having all the appearance of being good drudges. Their hair was
worn short in front, but spread out behind into a broad fan. They were
decidedly nice-looking; their faces were open and merry, but they had
rather coarse features, and shone all over with butter and red pigment.
They seemed to be of amazingly affectionate dispositions, for they
always stood in groups with their arms round each other’s necks like
Canova’s graces. They hummed sentimental airs all day long, swaying
themselves about to the tune, and completely ruined the peace of mind
of my too susceptible attendants. I began to buy corn and beans from
them; the women brought small baskets full, often only a handful each,
and were paid in beads. I had brought a bar of iron, half an inch thick,
and four feet long, that procured me 100 pounds of corn at once. Timboo
was the most successful bargainer; he sat in the middle among the beads,
and twenty or thirty corn-selling damsels crowded about him. He was in
his glory, chaffing and chattering in a most original patois all the day
long, for he had picked up a few Ovampo words, and many of the Ovampo
knew a little of Damara.
Every night Nangoro gives a ball, to which the _élite_ of Ovampo-land
have a free _entrée_. He kindly sent me an invitation by Tippoo, that
one of his three courtiers under whose protection we had been especially
placed. As soon as night sets in, the guests throng together from all
sides, and as the country is full of palms, one member of each party
generally picks up a dried, broken-off branch, and lights it as a torch.
It gives a brilliant flame, and the effect of the many lights on every
side is particularly pretty. I went, about eight o’clock, down the sanded
walk, between quickset hedgerows, that leads to Nangoro’s palisading.
When we had entered it, we turned to the right, into the dancing-court,
which was already filled with people who talked and flirted just as
though they were in an English ball-room.
There was a man with a feeble guitar, or banjo, in one corner, and a
powerful performer on the tom-tom in front of him. The first dance was
remarkable as a display of dexterity, though I hardly think of elegance;
it was undertaken by twelve or fourteen gentlemen, all the others
looking on. The dancers were ranked in double files, and _dos-à-dos_;
they then “_passéed_” from side to side with a tripping operatic step,
but a wary and cautious eye. Every now and then one of the performers
spun suddenly round, and gave a most terrific kick right at the seat of
honour of the gentleman whom he then found in front of him. This was the
dance; there was a great deal of dexterity shown both in delivering and
avoiding the kick which, when successfully planted, hit with the force
of a donkey’s hoof. I observed that the three courtiers danced very well
and very successfully, indeed I would not have found myself _dos-à-dos_
with Tippoo for any consideration. The ladies applauded the dance most
vociferously. After this came a promenade; we were all jammed together
into a compact mass, and then stepped round and round the court to the
sound of the tom-tom, tapping the ground with our feet in regular time.
Dance number three was for the Bushmen, a large kraal of whom lay close
by Nangoro’s palisading; they are his body-guard. This dance was entirely
mimicry, either of animal steps or anything else they liked, and then
a grand promenade closed the evening. I saw only thirty or forty of
Nangoro’s wives there. I suppose that the others, being old, did not
dance. They wear a copper armlet as a sign of distinction.
I had a difficulty with Nangoro, from not having complied with one of
the principal Ovampo customs, on first entering the country. I did not
like it, though if I had had a proper idea of its importance, I should,
I suppose, have submitted with the best grace I could. The Ovampo are,
as all blacks and most whites, very superstitious; a particular fear
seems to possess them of a stranger charming away the life of a person
he may happen to eat with. Why dinner time should be the season when the
charm has most power I do not know; but such is considered to be the
case. Accordingly, counter-charms are used; sometimes one is in fashion,
sometimes another; now, Nangoro, when a young man, being a person of
considerable imagination, framed a counter-charm for his own particular
use, and this being of course taken up by the court, is at present the
fashion of the whole of Ovampo-land, and it was to this counter-charm
that I personally objected. The stranger sits down, closes his eyes, and
raises his face to heaven; then the Ovampo initiator takes some water
into his mouth, gargles it well, and, standing over his victim, delivers
it full in his face. This ceremony having once been performed, all goes
on smoothly, though I am inclined to think that, like vaccination, it
requires to be repeated at intervals, as its effect dies away. Old Netjo
yielded to my objections the day I dined in his house, as Chik had done
when I first met him, and compromised the matter by rubbing butter
between my eyes instead. But Nangoro’s mind was not so easily satisfied;
he was harassed with suspicions; and though he invited me to drink beer
at his palace, yet he contrived to be out of the way when the beer was
brought in, and made the three courtiers sit down with me instead.
The plan of all the Ovampo houses is intricate, but Nangoro’s was a
perfect labyrinth, and I could never find my way about it. Conceive walls
of palisading eight or nine feet high, the poles of which are squared,
smoothed, and driven in so close together, that it is only here and there
that an arrow could be shot out between them. With these an irregularly
circular place of about one hundred yards across is walled, one entrance
being left, and to that entrance a broad double pathway leads, which
is marked and divided by slight hedges. Within the outer circle other
walls of palisading are placed in various ways; on one side a passage
leads to the cattle kraal, in another place there is one leading to the
dancing-court; passages lead to Nangoro’s rooms, to the granaries, to
the threshing floors, to the women’s apartments, and to those of the
attendants and of the three courtiers. I tried to sketch out the plan
several times, but my head would never take it in.
Nangoro came to my encampment one morning for a chat, and to see the
guns fired; we talked about the countries to the north, and of the great
river, which was four long or five easy days’ journey ahead, but towards
visiting which I could obtain no offer of assistance from him. He told
me that the traders (Portuguese) who went there never crossed it, but
that his people went to them and were ferried across by the Ovapangari.
I had become quite familiar with this river by hearsay, as nearly every
Ovampo had been there, and many Damaras also. There were some runaway
slaves from Benguela who knew all the places marked in the usual maps, as
Caconda, Bihe, Quinbumba, and so forth, and spoke of the houses of many
stories with great wonder. The river runs from east to west, and with
a very rapid current, so much so that boats never went up it, but only
ferried from side to side; the breadth of the river was so great, that
though a man’s shouting could be heard perfectly across it, yet his words
could not. They said it was very deep, and full of alligators. It ran
down to near the sea, and there it ended in a large pool, percolating,
of course, like very many other large African rivers, through the sands.
In this pool were great numbers of hippopotami, and the sand between
it and the sea was so soft and treacherous that people could not walk
over it. The names of the people who lived along it I have put down on
the map at the places they were described to inhabit. The Damaras call
them all “Ovampo.” The traders who go down to this river to barter have
occasionally horses (their spoor, neigh, and gallop, all being mimicked
to me). They bring brandy, beads, and assegais, to exchange for ivory
and cattle. These traders must be very nearly black, because not only
the colour of our skin but the straightness of our hair was a constant
marvel to the Ovampo. They wondered if we were white all over, and I
victimised John Allen, who had to strip very frequently to satisfy the
inquisitiveness of our hosts. Nangoro positively refused to believe
in the existence of any country which was inhabited by whites alone.
He seemed to consider them as rare migratory animals of unaccountable
manners but considerable intelligence, who were found here and there, but
who existed in no place as lords of the land.
In all the inquiries that I made I had much trouble in worming out my
information, for Nangoro was not at all communicative; and Chik, from
some cause or other, became daily more distant and reserved. The subject
of the oxen was always a sore one. Nangoro would not give me the use
of his stubble-fields, or the right of watering my oxen at the wells
before his own had drunk; the consequence was that they remained hanging
about till noon, and then were driven off two or three miles to a piece
of ground as barren as Greenwich Park in summer-time. They came home
every evening thinner than they were the day before, and were now in
a wretched state: the poor things were becoming very weak indeed, and
we were perpetually talking over the chances of their breaking down
on the return journey. It was exactly eighty hours actual travelling
from Okamabuti, or allowing two miles and three quarters an hour, two
hundred and twenty miles; of this, nearly sixty miles, partly choked
with thorns, partly as bleak as Salisbury Plain, had to be travelled
without water. This, of course, would be nothing to animals in good
condition, and in a European climate; but it was a very different matter
to me in Africa. I had been given to understand from the first that I
must neither go back nor go on without Nangoro’s express permission; so
that we were always under some anxiety. Of course I did all I could to
please him; but still, either from want of consideration on his part
or intentionally, things did not go on smoothly. Once when he was in a
good humour I produced my theatrical crown, which I had not shown him
before, and gave him a long discourse upon it. I told him that the great
captains of our country usually wore a head-dress of that description,
and that I therefore begged he would do me the favour of wearing it, as
a memento of my visit to him. It had a contrivance behind for altering
its size, and I stretched it to its full extent, for Nangoro’s head was
like a bullock’s, and then put it on him with great solemnity, patting
it down to make it sit tight. I must say that he looked every inch a
king. The three courtiers were in ecstasy, and Nangoro himself gave every
sign of self-satisfaction when I held up a looking-glass before him to
show the effect; and afterwards carefully sketched him. Nangoro, in the
first instance, had views with reference to me to which I confess I
showed but little inclination; it is really a great drawback to African
explorings that a traveller cannot become on friendly terms with a chief
without being requested and teased to receive a spare wife or a daughter
in marriage, and umbrage taken if he does not consent. It is, I know,
very ungallant to betray tender secrets, and I would not do so on any
account, if the charming Chipanga was ever likely to read this book;
but I cannot help hinting at the subject, as it not only illustrates
a phase of African life, but also indicates a direction in which any
adventurous fortune-hunter may successfully push his addresses. For the
benefit of those gentlemen I must explain how matters stand. Nangoro is
king by virtue of his deceased first wife; by her he has no children.
Chipanganjarà married that lady’s sister, who also is dead, leaving one
daughter as heiress to the kingdom; and this daughter is Chipanga. She,
greasy negress as she was, never forgave me the “spretæ injuria formæ.”
[Illustration: NANGORO, KING OF THE OVAMPO.]
I observed that some wild ducks and geese flew over our encampment every
morning and evening, and begged Tippoo that I might be allowed to go to
the water where they drank. We walked a couple of hours due east, and
came to a long succession of vleys, where droves of Nangoro’s cattle
were watered. There was no grass near, or else I should have insisted
on encamping there. Beyond the vleys the thorns began again. Elephants
come down at times in great numbers, and do much mischief to the corn. I
fancy that game is very abundant in the neighbourhood of the great river,
although there must be a great deal of cultivated ground adjacent to
it. The course of the river is very long, and its stream is undoubtedly
swift, because although a considerable slope might be allowed for from
Nangoro’s werft northwards to its bed, still the height of the bed at
that place above the sea can hardly be less than 3000 feet. To the
westwards of north the river is formed by the confluence of three others;
and in that country the Ovabundja live: it is marshy and flooded, and
the people live in houses built on poles.
It is very remarkable that between Chapupa’s werft (where the waggons
were left) and Nangoro’s, a distance of 220 miles, we had not crossed a
single river-bed. There was the mark of one little rivulet about four
feet wide, near Otchikoto, and that was literally all. I could obtain no
answer from Nangoro as to whether or not I might proceed. Chik, who was
our only medium of communication, put off everything with a “to-morrow.”
We were so teased with his procrastination, that we christened him
“Mahuka,” which was his favourite word. I went to Nangoro’s to see his
wives at work, threshing corn. They make meal by pounding the grain in a
stone mortar; everything was scrupulously clean and tidy. The granaries
are in shape and manufacture exactly like our common bee-hives, though
considerably larger, about four feet in diameter; these are placed with
the point downwards, each in a rough frame-work on three legs, which
raises it a foot from off the ground; into the bee-hive the grain is put,
and the whole is thatched and plastered over: in Nangoro’s granary rows
and rows of these were standing.
I have no fancy for their houses; they are so absurdly small. They are
circular, five and a half feet across, and three feet high, with a
conical thatched roof above all; the door is two feet high, and one and
a half broad. Nangoro sleeps in the open air under a shed, as he is too
fat to creep into one of these houses. Each hut is occupied by an entire
family: a husband, a wife, and a few small children; and when the door
is closed by the mat, and a cozy fire made in the middle of the hut, they
must find the atmosphere particularly genial and sweet. Their utensils
are remarkably neat; they have wooden cups, beer ladles, spoons, and so
forth. I regretted much that I had not enough things of exchange to buy
some of these which took my fancy. Their dagger-knives were creditably
made, and very pretty. The knife was set into a wooden handle, and fitted
into a wooden sheath; but both handle and sheath were in part covered
with copper plating, and in part wound round with copper wire beaten
square. There is plenty of copper in this country. The Bushmen brought us
quantities of ore at Otchikoto.
Tippoo took me to see a blacksmith; but his bellows were scarcely larger
than an accordian, and were worked in a similar manner. He was not a
successful artificer. I had occasion to make inquiries for a professional
gentleman, a dentist, as one of my teeth had ached so horribly that I
could hardly endure it. He was employed at a distance; but I subsequently
witnessed, though I did not myself undergo the exercise of his skill.
He brought a piece of the back sinew of a sheep, which forms a kind of
catgut, and tied this round the unhappy tooth; the spare end of the
catgut was wound round a stout piece of stick, and this he rolled up
tight to the tooth, and then prised with all his force against the jaw
till something gave way. I saw the wretched patient sitting for the rest
of the day with his head between his knees, and his hands against his
temples.
The practice of surgery is rather rude among the Ovampo. Timboo had run
a thorn very deeply into his hand; it did not remain in, but the prick
caused a painful abscess, which pointed and partly broke. He applied to
the Ovampo doctor, whose measures were simple: he squatted down, resting
Timboo’s hand upon his knee, and then grasped a tough stick with both
hands, with which he energetically kneaded down the swelling. Timboo
endured the operation without a cry; but a black can bear anything.
There are no diseases in these parts except slight fever, frequent
ophthalmia, and stomach complaints. I kept a bottle full of eye-water for
the sufferers from ophthalmia, and stuck a feather into the bottom of its
cork, with which I could paint the eyes of a whole row of patients one
after the other.
[Illustration: OVAMPO WEAPONS, UTENSILS, ETC.]