208 . SUTO ASTRONOMY. 



that is, " it is rounded off " ; the last quarter is called : " e 

 dumedisha le-tjatji," that is, " it salutes the sun." 



Each moon bears a special name : 



January is " Phato" (ma-sohlo), that is, the month in which 

 the first green meajie-cobs ("ma-sohlo") were broken off and 

 eaten. 



February is " Legobye " (la mpa le modula), or the month 

 of " the fully developed blossom." 



March is " Ma-hlohlokwe," the month of " the thin por- 

 ridge." 



April is called: " Se mphe, ki khotshe!", that is, "do not 

 give me any more, I have had enough !" 



May is " Shishishebo," that is, " there is the " se-shebo " 

 or " side-dish." Beans are ripe in this month and eaten as 

 " se-shebo." 



June is " Le-folwe," the month in which the corn is 

 " thrashed out " (" go folwa "). 



July is " Le-folwane," diminutive of " Le-folwe," the pre- 

 ceding month. 



August is " Phupu," the month in which the first trees start , 

 to " fupuga," or " to blossom." 



September is " Phepelelo." 



October is called " Morenane," or the " young master." The 

 tilling-time begins. 



November is " Moseganong " (" kgwedi ea ngwetji eo 

 bogale"), that is, the "month of the angry daughter-in-law." 



December is " Ngetaboshego " (" ki a fofa"), or "firefly" 

 ("I am flying") ; the month in which the "fireflies" begin to 

 fly about during the " boshego " or " night." 



Eclipses both of the sun ("go fifala ga le-tjatji," i.e., "the 

 turning dark o^f the sun") and of the moon ("go bola ga 

 kgwedi," i.e., "the becoming rotten of the moon ") are regarded 

 as a bad omen. 



The stars are called " di-naledi." They play a very limited 

 part in the ideas of the Basuto ; only those are named which 

 have a practical use in agriculture. 



Of the planets, Venus and Jupiter are known. 



The last mentioned is called " kgcgamashego," or "the 

 drawer up of night." 



The best known, however, is Venus. Not reahsing the 

 identity of the evening and morning star as being one and the 

 same, the Basuto have given her different names. 



As an evening star she is called " se-falabogogo," that is, 

 "the crust scrapings"; the meaning is that one who arrives by 

 the light cf her will get nothing but the scrapings of the pot; 

 or " kopa-dilallo," that is, the one which " asks for supper," 

 because it appears when people have their supper. 



As a morning star she is known as " ma-hlapholane," or as 



