654 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



dressing-gown over the whole ; and on his head a kerchief, a Ca- 

 labrian cap, and a velvet cap with pearl ornaments ; and all this in 

 a heat in which his aboriginal nakedness would have been much 

 more comfortable because he was afraid, if he left the garments 

 at home, the members of his household would appropriate them. 

 This same chief asked one of my friends for a piece of soap, so 

 that he could wash his clothes himself ; for he was afraid, if he 

 gave them to any one else to wash, they would not be returned. 

 If the clothes are locked up in a trunk they will be safe, for it is con- 

 sidered stealing to take them when they are thus secured ; but, if the 

 trunk is left open, Damara custom permits the clothes to be lifted care- 

 fully out and put one side, and the trunk to be carried off. Articles 

 of personal property may, however, be devoted to special uses, or to 

 special persons, by a kind of form of consecration, when the right to 

 them is respected. A custom of this kind has prevailed from antiquity 

 with reference to cattle and milk-vessels. Frequently, also, the head 

 of the house has the right to the first use of things ; among the Hot- 

 tentots they are his so long as they are whole, but as soon as they are 

 damaged the relatives are at liberty to get them if they can. 



New milk must be taken to the master to taste before the rest can 

 partake of it ; and this imposes no small labor on the lord of a thou- 

 sand milch-cows. Likewise whatever is killed must be brought to 

 him first. If he is not at home, the ancestral staff represents him, 

 and must be dipped into the milk or touch the meat. Particular animals 

 are sometimes milked for each member of the family, into a vessel set 

 apart for him, and then it is wrong for any one to touch the dish with- 

 out the owner's permission. The master's dish is filled even when he 

 is absent, and must not be used by any one else under penalty of bad 

 luck ; but, when it is needed for the next milking, the milk already in 

 it is poured out on the ground. If, however, a visitor comes to the 

 place, he, as the master's guest, can use his dish and drink his share 

 of the milk without impropriety. After the owner of the cow and 

 the vessel is dead, the vessel is still regularly filled and emptied, un- 

 less some guest comes along to whom the contents can be given. 



The principal property of the Herero consists in cattle. As the 

 lambs and calves and the mother-cows are never slaughtered, and other 

 animals only on festal occasions, the herds increase very rapidly in the 

 warm climate of the country, and require constantly larger pasturage 

 tracts. This leads to frequent interferences, with occasions for con- 

 tention ; and at intervals the pasturage becomes exhausted, and great 

 suffering ensues. The Hereros are thus exposed to periodical alterna- 

 tions of wealth and poverty. 



The chiefs have, however, a tolerably secure possession in their 

 retainers ; and the feudal and patriarchal relation in which the men 

 stand to each other is in strong contrast with the community of title 

 to the land and soil. Theoretically, the function of head of the 



