THE OVAMBO OR OVAMPO TRIBE.
LOCALITY OF THE TRIBE -- THEIR HONESTY -- KINDNESS TO THE SICK AND
AGED -- DOMESTIC HABITS -- CURIOUS DRESS -- THEIR ARCHITECTURE
-- WOMEN’S WORK -- AGRICULTURE -- WEAPONS -- MODE OF CAMPING --
FISH-CATCHING -- INGENIOUS TRAPS -- ABSENCE OF PAUPERISM -- DANCES
-- GOVERNMENT OF THE OVAMBO -- THEIR KING NANGORO -- HIS TREACHEROUS
CHARACTER -- MATRIMONIAL AFFAIRS -- THE LAW OF SUCCESSION -- THEIR
FOOD -- CURIOUS CUSTOM AT MEAL-TIMES -- MODE OF GREETING FRIENDS.
There is a rather remarkable tribe inhabiting the country about lat.
18° S. and long. 15° E. called by the name of OVAMPO, or OVAMBO, the
latter being the usual form. In their own language their name is
Ovaherero, or the Merry People. They are remarkable for their many good
qualities, which are almost exceptional in Southern Africa. In the
first place, they are honest, and, as we have already seen, honesty
is a quality which few of the inhabitants of Southern Africa seem to
recognize, much less to practise.
A traveller who finds himself among the Damaras, Namaquas, or
Bechuanas, must keep a watchful eye on every article which he
possesses, and, if he leaves any object exposed for a moment, it will
probably vanish in some mysterious manner, and never be seen again. Yet
Mr. Anderssen, to whom we owe our chief knowledge of the Ovambo tribe,
mentions that they were so thoroughly honest that they would not even
touch any of his property without permission, much less steal it; and,
on one occasion, when his servants happened to leave some trifling
articles on the last camping ground, messengers were despatched to him
with the missing articles. Among themselves, theft is fully recognized
as a crime, and they have arrived at such a pitch of civilization
that certain persons are appointed to act as magistrates, and to take
cognizance of theft as well as of other crimes. If a man were detected
in the act of stealing, he would be brought before the house of the
king, and there speared to death.
They are kind and attentive to their sick and aged, and in this respect
contrast most favorably with other tribes of Southern Africa. Even
the Zulus will desert those who are too old to work, and will leave
them to die of hunger, thirst, and privation, whereas the Ovambo takes
care of the old, the sick, and the lame, and carefully tends them.
This one fact alone is sufficient to place them immeasurably above
the neighboring tribes, and to mark an incalculable advance in moral
development.
It is a remarkable fact that the Ovambos do not live in towns or
villages, but in separate communities dotted over the land, each
family forming a community. The corn and grain, on which they chiefly
live, are planted round the houses, which are surrounded with a
strong and high enclosure. The natives are obliged to live in this
manner on account of the conduct of some neighboring tribes, which
made periodical raids upon them, and inflicted great damage upon
their cottages. And, as the Ovambos are a singularly peaceable tribe,
and found that retaliation was not successful, they hit upon this
expedient, and formed each homestead into a separate fort.
Probably for the same reason, very few cattle are seen near the
habitations of the Ovambos, and a traveller is rather struck with
the fact that, although this tribe is exceptionally rich in cattle,
possessing vast herds of them, a few cows and goats are their only
representatives near the houses. The fact is, the herds of cattle are
sent away to a distance from the houses, so that they are not only
undiscernible by an enemy, but can find plenty of pasturage and water.
It is said that they also breed large herds of swine, and have learned
the art of fattening them until they attain gigantic dimensions. The
herds of swine, however, are never allowed to come near the houses,
partly for the reasons already given, and partly on account of their
mischievous propensities.
The first engraving on page 329 represents the architecture of the
Ovambos. The houses, with their flat, conical roofs, are so low that a
man cannot stand upright in them. But the Ovambos never want to stand
upright in their houses, thinking them to be merely sleeping-places
into which they can crawl, and in which they can be sheltered during
the night. Two grain-stores are also seen, each consisting of a huge
jar, standing on supports, and covered with a thatch of reeds. In the
background is a fowl-house. Poultry are much bred among the Ovambos,
and are of a small description, scarcely larger than an English bantam.
They are, however, prolific, and lay an abundance of eggs.
The dress of the Ovambos, though scanty, is rather remarkable. As
to the men, they generally shave the greater part of the head, but
always leave a certain amount of their short, woolly hair upon the
crown. As the skull of the Ovambos is rather oddly formed, projecting
considerably behind, this fashion gives the whole head a very curious
effect. The rest of the man’s dress consists chiefly of beads and
sandals, the former being principally worn as necklaces, and the
latter almost precisely resembling the Bechuanan sandals, which have
already been described. They generally carry a knife with them, stuck
into a band tied round the upper part of the arm. The knife bears some
resemblance in general make to that of the Bechuanas and is made by
themselves, they being considerable adepts in metallurgy. The bellows
employed by the smiths much resembles that which is in use among the
Bechuanas, and they contrive to procure a strong and steady blast of
wind by fixing two sets of bellows at each forge, and having them
worked by two assistants, while the chief smith attends to the metal
and wields his stone hammer. The metal, such as iron and copper, which
they use, they obtain by barter from neighboring tribes, and work it
with such skill that their weapons, axes, and agricultural tools are
employed by them as a medium of exchange to the very tribes from whom
the ore had been purchased.
The women have a much longer dress than that of the other sex, but it
is of rather scanty dimensions. An oddly-shaped apron hangs in front,
and another behind, the ordinary form much resembling the head of an
axe, with the edge downward.
The portrait on the next page was taken from a sketch by Mr. Baines,
and represents the only true Ovambo that he ever saw. While he was at
Otjikango Katiti, or “Little Barman,” a Hottentot chief, named Jan
Aris, brought out a young Ovambo girl, saying that she was intrusted
to him for education. Of course, the real fact was, that she had been
captured in a raid, and was acting as servant to his wife, who was the
daughter of the celebrated Jonker, and was pleased to entitle herself
the Victoria of Damara-land. The girl was about fourteen, and was
exceedingly timid at the sight of the stranger, turning her back on
him, hiding her face, and bursting into tears of fright. This attitude
gave an opportunity of sketching a remarkable dress of the Ovambo girl,
the rounded piece of hide being decorated with blue beads. When she
was persuaded that no harm would be done to her, she turned round and
entered into conversation, thereby giving an opportunity for the second
sketch. Attached to the same belt which sustains the cushion was a
small apron of skin, and besides this no other dress was worn. She was
a good-looking girl, and, if her face had not been disfigured by the
tribal marks, might have even been considered as pretty.
The headdress of the women consists chiefly of their own hair, but
they continually stiffen it with grease, which they press on the head
in cakes, adding a vermilion-colored clay, and using both substances
in such profusion that the top of the head looks quite flat, and much
larger than it is by nature. The same mixture of grease and clay is
abundantly rubbed over the body, so that a woman in full dress imparts
a portion of her decorations to every object with which she comes in
contact.
Round their waists they wear such masses of beads, shells, and other
ornaments, that a solid kind of cuirass is made of them, and the centre
of the body is quite covered with these decorations. Many of the women
display much taste in the arrangement of the beads and shells, forming
them into patterns, and contrasting their various hues in quite an
artistic manner. Besides this bead cuirass, they wear a vast number
of necklaces and armlets made of the same materials. Their wrists and
ankles are loaded with a profusion of huge copper rings, some of which
weigh as much as three pounds; and, as a woman will sometimes have two
of these rings on each ankle, it may be imagined that the grace of her
deportment is not at all increased by them. Young girls, before they
are of sufficient consequence to obtain these ornaments, and while
they have to be content with the slight apparel of their sex, are as
graceful as needs be, but no woman can be expected to look graceful or
to move lightly when she has to carry about with her such an absurd
weight of ornaments. Moreover, the daily twelve hours’ work of the
women tends greatly toward the deterioration of their figures. To them
belongs, as to all other South African women, the labor of building the
houses.
[Illustration: (1.) PORTRAIT OF OVAMBO GIRL. (See page 316.)]
[Illustration: (2.) WOMEN POUNDING CORN. (See page 319.)]
The severity of this labor is indeed great, when we take into
consideration the dimensions of the enclosures. The houses themselves
do not require nearly so much work as those of the Bechuanas, for,
although they are of nearly the same dimensions, _i. e._ from fourteen
to twenty feet in diameter, they are comparatively low pitched, and
therefore need less material and less labor. A number of these houses
are placed in each enclosure, the best being for the master and his
immediate family, and the others for the servants. There are besides
grain-stores, houses for cattle, fowl-houses, and even sties for pigs,
one or two of the animals being generally kept in each homestead,
though the herds are rigidly excluded. Within the same enclosure are
often to be seen a number of ordinary Bosjesman huts. These belong
to members of that strange tribe, many of whom have taken up their
residence with the Ovambos, and live in a kind of relationship with
them, partly considered as vassals, partly as servants, and partly as
kinsfolk.
Moreover, within the palisade is an open space in which the inhabitants
can meet for amusement and consultation, and the cultivated ground
is also included, so that the amount of labor expended in making the
palisade can easily be imagined. The palisade is composed of poles at
least eight feet in length, and of corresponding stoutness, each being
a load for an ordinary laborer. These are fixed in the ground at short
intervals from each other, and firmly secured by means of rope lashing.
As to the men, they take the lighter departments of field work, attend
to the herds of cattle, and go on trading expeditions among the Damaras
and other tribes. The first of these labors is not very severe, as the
land is wonderfully fertile. The Ovambos need not the heavy tools which
a Kaffir woman is obliged to use, one hoe being a tolerable load. The
surface of the ground is a flinty sand soil, but at a short distance
beneath is a layer of blue clay, which appears to be very rich, and
to be able to nourish the plants without the aid of manures. A very
small hoe is used for agriculture, and, instead of digging up the
whole surface, the Ovambos merely dig little holes at intervals, drop
a handful of corn into them, cover them up, and leave them. This task
is always performed at the end of the rainy season, so that the ground
is full of moisture, and the young blades soon spring up. They are then
thinned out, and planted separately.
When the corn is ripe, the women take possession of it, and the men are
free to catch elephants in pitfalls for the sake of their tusks, and to
go on trading expeditions with the ivory thus obtained. When the grain
is beaten out of the husks, it is placed in the storehouses, being kept
in huge jars made of palm leaves and clay, much resembling those of
the Bechuanas, and, like them, raised a foot or so from the ground.
Grinding, or rather pounding the grain, also falls to the lot of the
women, and is not done with stones, but by means of a rude mortar. A
tree trunk is hollowed out, so as to form a tube, and into this tube
the grain is thrown. A stout and heavy pole answers the purpose of a
pestle, and the whole process much resembles that of making butter in
the old-fashioned churn.
The illustration No. 2 on page 317 is from an original sketch by T.
Baines, Esq., and exhibits a domestic scene within an Ovambo homestead.
Two women are pounding corn in one of their mortars, accompanied by
their children. On the face of one of them may be seen a series of
tribal marks. These are scars produced by cutting the cheeks and
rubbing clay into the wounds, and are thought to be ornamental. In the
foreground lies an oval object pierced with holes. This is a child’s
toy, made of the fruit of a baobab. Several holes are cut in the rind,
and the pulp squeezed out. The hard seeds are allowed to remain within
the fruit, and when dry they produce a rattling sound as the child
shakes its simple toy. In a note attached to his sketch, Mr. Baines
states that this is the only example of a child’s toy that he found
throughout the whole of Southern Africa. Its existence seems to show
the real superiority of this remarkable tribe. In the background are
seen a hut and two granaries, and against the house is leaning one of
the simple hoes with which the ground is cultivated. The reader will
notice that the iron blade is set in a line with the handle, and not at
right angles to it. A water-pipe lies on the ground, and the whole is
enclosed by the lofty palisades lashed together near the top.
The weapons of the Ovambo tribe are very simple, as it is to be
expected from a people who are essentially peaceful and unwarlike. They
consist chiefly of an assagai with a large blade, much like that of the
Damaras, and quite as useless for warlike purposes, bow and arrows, and
the knob-kerrie. None of them are very formidable weapons, and the bow
and arrows are perhaps the least so of the three, as the Ovambos are
wretched marksmen, being infinitely surpassed in the use of the bow by
the Damaras and the Bosjesmans, who obtain a kind of skill by using the
bow in the chase, though they would be easily beaten in range and aim
by a tenth-rate English amateur archer.
When on the march they have a very ingenious mode of encamping. Instead
of lighting one large fire and lying round it, as is the usual custom,
their first care is to collect a number of stones about as large as
bricks, and with these to build a series of circular fireplaces, some
two feet in diameter. These fireplaces are arranged in a double row,
and between them the travellers make up their primitive couches. This
is a really ingenious plan, and especially suited to the country. In a
place where large timber is plentiful, the custom of making huge fires
is well enough, though on a cold windy night the traveller is likely to
be scorched on one side and frozen on the other. But in Ovambo-land,
as a rule, sticks are the usual fuel, and it will be seen that, by
the employment of these stones, the heat is not only concentrated but
economized, the stones radiating the heat long after the fire has
expired. These small fires are even safer than a single large one, for,
when a large log is burned through and falls, it is apt to scatter
burning embers to a considerable distance, some of which might fall on
the sleepers and set fire to their beds.
The Ovambos are successful cultivators, and raise vegetables of many
kinds. The ordinary Kaffir corn and a kind of millet are the two grains
which are most plentiful, and they possess the advantage of having
stems some eight feet in length, juicy and sweet. When the corn is
reaped, the ears are merely cut off, and the cattle then turned into
the field to feed on the sweet stems, which are of a very fattening
character. Beans, peas, and similar vegetables are in great favor with
the Ovambos, who also cultivate successfully the melon, pumpkins,
calabashes, and other kindred fruits. They also grow tobacco, which,
however, is of a very poor quality, not so much on account of the
inferior character of the plant, as of the imperfect mode of curing
and storing it. Taking the leaves and stalks, and mashing them into a
hollow piece of wood, is not exactly calculated to improve the flavor
of the leaf, and the consequence is, that the tobacco is of such bad
quality that none but an Ovambo will use it.
There is a small tribe of the Ovambos, called the Ovaquangari,
inhabiting the banks of the Okovango river, who live much on fish,
and have a singularly ingenious mode of capturing them. Mr. Anderssen
gives the following account of the fish-traps employed by the
Ovaquangari:--“The river Okovango abounds, as I have already said,
in fish, and that in great variety. During my very limited stay on
its banks, I collected nearly twenty distinct species, and might,
though very inadequately provided with the means of preserving them,
unquestionably have doubled them, had sufficient time been afforded me.
All I discovered were not only edible, but highly palatable, some of
them possessing even an exquisite flavor.
“Many of the natives devote a considerable portion of their time to
fishing, and employ various simple, ingenious, and highly effective
contrivances for catching the finny tribe. Few fish, however, are
caught in the river itself. It is in the numerous shallows and lagoons
immediately on its borders, and formed by its annual overflow, that the
great draughts are made. The fishing season, indeed, only commences
in earnest at about the time that the Okovango reaches its highest
water-mark, that is, when it has ceased to ebb, and the temporary
lagoons or swamps alluded to begin to disappear.
“To the best of my belief, the Ovaquangari do not employ nets, but
traps of various kinds, and what may not inaptly be called aquatic
yards, for the capture of fish. These fishing yards are certain spots
of eligible water, enclosed or fenced off in the following manner:--A
quantity of reeds, of such length as to suit the water for which they
are intended, are collected, put into bundles, and cut even at both
ends. These reeds are then spread in single layers flat on the ground,
and sewed together very much in the same way as ordinary mats, but by
a less laborious process. It does not much matter what the length of
these mats may be, as they can be easily lengthened or shortened as
need may require.
“When a locality has been decided on for fishing operations, a certain
number of these mattings are introduced into the water on their ends,
that is, in a vertical position, and are placed either in a circle,
semi-circle, or a line, according to the shape of the lagoon or shallow
which is to be enclosed. Open spaces, from three to four feet wide,
are, however, left at certain intervals, and into these apertures the
toils, consisting of beehive-shaped masses of reeds, are introduced.
The diameter of these at the mouth varies with the depth to which they
have to descend, the lower side being firmly fastened to the bottom of
the water, whilst the upper is usually on a level with its surface,
or slightly rising above it. In order thoroughly to disguise these
ingenious traps, grasses and weeds are thrown carelessly over and
around them.”
The Ovambos are fond of amusing themselves with a dance, which seems
to be exceedingly agreeable to the performers, but which could not be
engaged in by those who are not well practised in its odd evolutions.
The dancers are all men, and stand in a double row, back to back. The
music, consisting of a drum and a kind of guitar, then strikes up,
and the performers begin to move from side to side, so as to pass and
repass each other. Suddenly, one of the performers spins round, and
delivers a tremendous kick at the individual who happens then to be
in front of him; and the gist of the dance consists in planting your
own kick and avoiding that of others. This dance takes place in the
evening, and is lighted by torches made simply of dried palm branches.
Nangoro used to give a dance every evening in his palace yard, which
was a most intricate building, a hundred yards or so in diameter, and a
very labyrinth of paths leading to dancing-floors, threshing-floors,
corn stores, women’s apartments, and the like.
Among the Ovambos there is no pauperism. This may not seem to be an
astonishing fact to those who entertain the popular idea of savage
life, namely, that with them there is no distinction of rich and
poor, master and servant. But, in fact, the distinctions of rank are
nowhere more sharply defined than among savages. The king or chief
is approached with a ceremony which almost amounts to worship; the
superior exacts homage, and the inferior pays it. Wealth is as much
sought after among savages as among Europeans, and a rich man is quite
as much respected on account of his wealth as if he had lived in Europe
all his life. The poor become servants to the rich, and, practically,
are their slaves, being looked down upon with supreme contempt.
Pauperism is as common in Africa as it is in Europe, and it is a matter
of great credit to the Ovambos that it is not to be found among them.
The Ovambos are ruled by a king, and entertain great contempt for all
the tribes who do not enjoy that privilege. They acknowledge petty
chiefs, each head of a family taking rank as such, but prefer monarchy
to any other form of government. As is the case with many other tribes,
the king becomes enormously fat, and is generally the only obese man in
the country. Nangoro, who was king some few years ago, was especially
remarkable for his enormous dimensions, wherein he even exceeded Panda,
the Kaffir monarch. He was so fat that his gait was reduced to a mere
waddle, and his breath was so short that he was obliged to halt at
every few paces, and could not speak two consecutive sentences without
suffering great inconvenience, so that in ordinary conversation his
part mostly consisted of monosyllabic grunts. His character was as
much in contrast to those of his subjects as was his person. He was a
very unpleasant individual,--selfish, cunning, and heartless. After
witnessing the effect of the fire-arms used by his white visitors,
he asked them to prove their weapons by shooting elephants. Had
they fallen into the trap which was laid for them, he would have
delayed their departure by all kinds of quibbles, kept up the work of
elephant-shooting, and have taken all the ivory himself.
After they had left his country, Nangoro despatched a body of men
after them, with orders to kill them all. The commander of the party,
however, took a dislike to his mission--probably from having witnessed
the effect of conical bullets when fired by the white men--and took his
men home again. One party, however, was less fortunate, and a fight
ensued. Mr. Green and some friends visited Nangoro, and were received
very hospitably. But, just before they were about to leave the
district, they were suddenly attacked by a strong force of the Ovambos,
some six hundred in number, all well armed with their native weapons,
the bow, the knob-kerrie, and the assagai, while the armed Europeans
were only thirteen in number.
Fortunately, the attack was not entirely unsuspected, as sundry little
events had happened which put the travellers on their guard. The
conflict was very severe, and in the end the Ovambos were completely
defeated, having many killed and wounded, and among the former one of
Nangoro’s sons. The Europeans, on the contrary, only lost one man, a
native attendant, who was treacherously stabbed before the fight began.
The most remarkable part of the fight was, that it caused the death of
the treacherous king, who was present at the battle. Although he had
seen fire-arms used, he had a poor opinion of their power, and had,
moreover, only seen occasional shots fired at a mark. The repeated
discharges that stunned his ears, and the sight of his men falling dead
and dying about him, terrified him so exceedingly that he died on the
spot from sheer fright.
The private character of this cowardly traitor was by no means a
pleasant one, and he had a petty way of revenging himself for any
fancied slight. On one occasion, when some native beer was offered to
Mr. Anderssen, and declined in consequence of an attack of illness,
Nangoro, who was sitting in front of the traveller, suddenly thrust at
him violently with his sceptre, and caused great pain. This he passed
off as a practical joke, though, as the sceptre was simply a pointed
stick, the joke was anything but agreeable to its victim. The real
reason for this sudden assault was, that Mr. Anderssen had refused to
grant the king some request which he had made.
He became jealous and sulky, and took a contemptible pleasure in
thwarting his white visitors in every way. Their refusal to shoot
elephants, and to undergo all the dangers of the hunt, while he was to
have all the profits, was a never-failing source of anger, and served
as an excuse for refusing all accommodation. They could not even go
half a mile out of camp without first obtaining permission, and, when
they asked for guides to direct them on their journey, he refused,
saying that those who would not shoot elephants for him should have
no guides from him. In fine, he kept them in his country until he had
exacted from them everything which they could give him, and, by way
of royal remuneration for their gifts, once sent them a small basket
of flour. He was then glad to get rid of them, evidently fearing that
he should have to feed them, and, by way of extraordinary generosity,
expedited their departure with a present of corn, not from his own
stores, but from those of his subjects, and which, moreover, arrived
too late. His treacherous conduct in sending after the European party,
and the failure of his plans, have already been mentioned.
The Ovambo tribe are allowed to have as many wives as they please,
provided that they can be purchased at the ordinary price. This price
differs, not so much from the charms or accomplishments of the bride,
as from the wealth of the suitor. The price of wives is much lower
than among the Kaffirs, two oxen and one cow being considered the
ordinary sum which a man in humble circumstances is expected to pay,
while a man of some wealth cannot purchase a wife under three oxen
and two cows. The only exception to this rule is afforded by the king
himself, who takes as many wives as he pleases without paying for them,
the honor of his alliance being considered a sufficient remuneration.
One wife always takes the chief place, and the successor to the rank
and property of his father is always one of her children. The law of
royal succession is very simple. When the king dies, the eldest son of
his chief wife succeeds him, but if she has no son, then the daughter
assumes the sceptre. This was the case with the fat king, Nangoro,
whose daughter Chipanga was the heir-apparent, and afterward succeeded
him.
It is, however, very difficult to give precise information on so
delicate a subject. The Ovambo tribe cannot endure to speak, or even
to think, of the state of man after death, and merely to allude to
the successor of a chief gives dire offence, as the mention of an
heir to property, or a successor to rank, implies the death of the
present chief. For the same reason, it is most difficult to extract
any information from them respecting their ideas of religion, and any
questions upon the subject are instantly checked. That they have some
notions of religion is evident enough, though they degrade it into
mere superstition. Charms of various kinds they value exceedingly,
though they seem to be regarded more as safeguards against injury from
man or beast than as possessing any sanctity of their own. Still, the
constitutional reticence of the Ovambo tribe on such subjects may cause
them to deny such sanctity to others, though they acknowledge it among
themselves.
As is the case with many of the South African tribes, the Ovambos make
great use of a kind of coarse porridge. They always eat it hot, and
mix with it a quantity of clotted milk or semi-liquid butter. They are
quite independent of spoons at their meals, and, in spite of the nature
of their food, do not even use the brush-spoon that is employed by the
Hottentots.
Mr. Anderssen, while travelling in the land of the Ovambos, was
hospitably received at a house, and invited to dinner. No spoons were
provided, and he did not see how he was to eat porridge and milk
without such aid. “On seeing the dilemma we were in, our host quickly
plunged his greasy fingers into the middle of the steaming mass, and
brought out a handful, which he dashed into the milk. Having stirred it
quickly round with all his might, he next opened his capacious mouth,
in which the agreeable mixture vanished as if by magic. He finally
licked his fingers, and smacked his lips with evident satisfaction,
looking at us as much as to say, ‘That’s the trick, my boys!’ However
unpleasant this initiation might have appeared to us, it would have
been ungrateful, if not offensive, to refuse. Therefore we commenced
in earnest, according to example, emptying the dish, and occasionally
burning our fingers, to the great amusement of our swarthy friends.”
On one occasion, the same traveller, who was accompanied by some
Damaras, fell in with a party of Ovambos, who gave them a quantity of
porridge meal of millet in exchange for meat. Both parties were equally
pleased, the one having had no animal food for a long time, and the
other having lived on flesh diet until they were thoroughly tired of
it. A great feast was the immediate result, the Ovambos revelling in
the unwonted luxury of meat, and the Europeans and Damaras only too
glad to obtain some vegetable food. The feast resembled all others,
except that a singular ceremony was insisted upon by the one party, and
submitted to by the other. The Damaras had a fair share of the banquet,
but, before they were allowed to begin their meal, one of the Ovambos
went round to them, and, after filling his mouth with water, spirted a
little of the liquid into their faces.
This extraordinary ceremony was invented by the king Nangoro when
he was a young man. Among their other superstitions, the Ovambos
have an idea that a man is peculiarly susceptible to witchcraft at
meal-times, and that it is possible for a wizard to charm away the life
of any one with whom he may happen to eat. Consequently, all kinds of
counter-charms are employed, and, as the one in question was invented
by the king, it was soon adopted by his loyal subjects, and became
fashionable throughout the land. So wedded to this charm was Nangoro
himself, that when Mr. Galton first visited him he was equally alarmed
and amazed at the refusal of the white man to submit to the aspersion.
At last he agreed to compromise the matter by anointing his visitor’s
head with butter, but, as soon as beer was produced, he again became
suspicious, and would not partake of it, nor even remain in the house
while it was being drunk.
He would not even have consented to the partial compromise, but for
a happy idea that white men were exceptional beings, not subject to
the ordinary laws of Nature. That there was a country where they
were the lords of the soil he flatly refused to believe, but, as Mr.
Galton remarks, considered them simply as rare migratory animals of
considerable intelligence.
It is a rather curious fact that, although the Damaras are known never
to take salt with their food, the Ovambos invariably make use of that
condiment.
They have a rather odd fashion of greeting their friends. As soon as
their guests are seated, a large dish of fresh butter is produced, and
the host or the chief man present rubs the face and breast of each
guest with the butter. They seem to enjoy this process thoroughly, and
cannot understand why their white guests should object to a ceremony
which is so pleasing to themselves. Perhaps this custom may have some
analogy with their mode of treating the Damaras at meal-times. The
Ovambos still retain a ceremony which is precisely similar to one which
prevails through the greater part of the East. If a subject should come
into the presence of his king, if a common man should appear before his
chief, he takes off his sandals before presuming to make his obeisance.
The reader may remember that on page 314, certain observances connected
with fire are in use among the Damaras. The Ovambo tribe have a
somewhat similar idea on the subject, for, when Mr. Anderssen went to
visit Nangoro, the king of the Ovambos, a messenger was sent from the
king bearing a brand kindled at the royal fire. He first extinguished
the fire that was already burning, and then re-kindled it with the
glowing brand, so that the king and his visitor were supposed to be
warmed by the same fire. In this ceremony there is a delicate courtesy,
not unmixed with poetical feeling.